IMO the best weapons should be expensive and sold only by Hugh (he is the weapons guy after all..)and they should be tied to a much later game stage (also Daring Adventurer needs a complete rework) . You should never be able to get Q6 gear from any traders be it quest reward or from their inventory. They also should only offer weapon/tool parts as a reward.
I might even go as far to say Hugh should be the only trader you can buy weapons with (it is his specialty), but the main problem with that is it might add too much world RNG and could be annoying being stuck with someone like Rekt as your starting trader. This could be too imbalanced, but something to consider and at the very least my other ideas at the top could work well IMO.
At the end of the day I believe crafting and looting is definitely getting there and getting close to being balanced but the problem is the traders crap all over it and screw up the whole progression. If you aren't constantly questing and abusing the trader you aren't playing the game efficiently. The game still feels like 7 Days to Trade like in A20. Hopefully it gets some more balance passes in this Alpha.