[2022] Zombie stages going up faster than loot?

High tier POI's multiply your gamestage in regards to spawning zombies (and loot); So yes, Going into a high tier POI, EG, A T4 POI, when you're low level with awful weapons you're going to see dangerous enemies. But if you manage to overcome it, you should come away with loot fairly well above your current stage too.

In short, Pick lower tier quests- Yes, even if you manage to advance yourself through the questline fast enough tor each T4 quests, you may prefer to avoid T4 pois as you're not quite ready for them.