Devices with Stock 11 ROM should flash stock before flashing /e/R .
… or devices that are far behind in firmware updates, as it brings users to the same error-reporting baseline.
But! if you run an old device no longer receiving new firmware or are at the tip of stock-rom firmware updates, there’s the option to transition with userdata intact using a workaround. It’s a testers approach… that worked for me™
https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/3712
Edit: “format_on_upgrade: true” in the lineage device wiki on the yml file can be an indicator if a format is necessary on upgrades, ymmv