I believe if you want a Max non collaboration GLR then Max at HLR before awakening.
Suggesting to max non-collab HLRs before awakening is not exactly a good one.
Reason: If it is not mirrored and if you max the LRs before evolution and used arcana succession, then your resulting HLR will have 54997 ATK at level 1 (no clue for DEF since I don't normally take note of it). And 54999 is the max stat for HLR, meaning you are only allowed to use 1 ATK arcana at HLR.
Well, if it is mirrored and you used a level 1 LRMM, you sure are able to add mode than one ATK arcana at Level 1 HLR.