The relic points are honestly simpler than people think when it comes to story impact. You'll want to focus on the combat benefits since that's what they're actually designed for, especially with perks like emergency cloaking and those sweet cyberware upgrades. The real deal is that story choices come down to what you say and do in those big moments, not what perks you've picked up along the way

When youre in combat situations, the relic tree can definitely change how you approach things like maybe grabbing that jailbreak upgrade for your mantis blades makes you more likely to go aggressive, but it won't change how reed or songbird's story plays out. The major story beats and those big dramatic moments in dogtown, they're all about your actual choices in dialogue and missions

Tip: keep in mind that even if you max out the whole relic tree and get that relic ruler achievement, the ending you get still comes down to those crucial decisions in missions like firestarter and killing moon. The perks are there to make you feel like a proper chrome-edged merc, but the story? That's all about what kind of person v decides to be when it matters