TL;DR: IMO for an item based game, the basically-hero-kit items shouldn’t get all of the love. Between set bonuses and both Eternal T3 upgrades and 5th abilities that are both significant power spikes, Echo items have always felt out-of-place.
Echo items are dime-a-dozen in Ascension, sure, but generally speaking so are Eternal items. Unless I have a very specific build in mind, why exactly would I take an Echo item over any given Eternal item? Echo items cover far fewer combat use cases, several Eternal items are basically just direct upgrades to Echo items, and in return for using items that are typically equivalent-at-best to Eternal items, I lock myself out of at least one set bonus, a significant heal from transforming, a 5th ability, and whatever upgrades, utility, etc I would get from Eternal equipment.
If I want to support my team literally at all? There’s no Echo item for that except maybe the Shield RMB to eat damage, or maybe Scimitar RMB if an almost-melee range exhaust is sufficient supporting. Or maybe a ranged slow. Beyond that, the only way I’m “supporting” is by just dealing damage and hoping that “just dealing damage” is enough.
If I want to apply meaningful CC? The best Echo items can do is a melee-range exhaust (Scimitar RMB once again), two at-range slows, and knockback from the Shield. As before, the only other alternative is going for damage.
No stuns, no roots, no pulls, no huge circular AOE slows, no walls, no AOE team buffs, no blinds, no tethers, no piercing, no stealth, no team healing, no DoT, no teleport.
One source of knockback. One source of crushing. One source of exhaust. Two sources of slows.
Everything else is either generally selfish utility or general-use damage. There are so many combat mechanics that are present exclusively on Eternal items, and those mechanics basically don’t exist in the game at all once those specific Eternals get rotated out.
I’m generally of the opinion that Eternal items, or at least Eternal kits as a whole, generally cover too many bases and individual items often do too much, but I feel like Echo items could stand to do even a tiny bit more if they’re meant to stand on the same stage and generally be as relevant as Eternal items.