Idk, maybe this sounds like bias but if you want scaling to at least escalate reasonably, you want Shanks to defeat Loki squarely. It elevates Mihawk, Akainu, Blackbeard, Shamrock, etc. Yes, it makes endgame scaling look stupid compared to the baseline set by Kaido and others, but at least it keeps One Piece pretty consistent with other manga that do the same thing.
If Shanks doesnt or cant defeat him, now you have a character who scales higher than even Yonko and it brings into question what Oda is trying to do with him, because Luffy has to surpass this character at a reasonable point. If its in Elbaf (DR'ed or just an acknowledgement from Loki), then it really calls into question what Shamrock, Akainu or Blackbeard can even do to Luffy after this point.
The former at least scales them up. The latter makes them almost into a joke because "muh deities". Just my 2 cents on that, I doubt many people agree with it but imo the cleanest way forward is for Oda to actually glaze Shanks here one past time since it benefits other characters who rival him