Id urge those who are calling for powerful rares to really think about why they want that.
Is it because thats how it was in other games?
Doing something because thats how it was done before is a bad reason.
I think weapon tiers should be significant.
Levels being equal, each tier of item should be better than lower tier items. Always.
I dont believe there is any gameplay benefit to a rare or magic item being as good or better than a leg/set/etc item, circumstantially or otherwise.
Lower tier items being as good as higher tier doesnt add gameplay depth or player agency. It just changes the color of your endgame bis item, and makes lategame looting and sorting take longer.