Notch top sr valve train noise

[Elliott]

Alright I've been trying to diagnose and fix this issue for a while now and I'm getting rather frustrated. Notch top sr20det with vtc.

My issue started out as a slight misfire which affected the idle and when I would be steady cruising around 3k-3500rpm. Feels almost like a fuel issue the way it cuts. Once it clears the cut and gets above those rpms it runs better and pulls harder, if i continue to increase the fuel that goes into the motor, aka flooring it.
Recently, it has started to make a slight ticking / knocking sound from what seems like underneath the valve cover. I took it off and cannot see any obvious imperfections (broken springs, worn cams etc)

Originally i thought it was a fuel / injector issue.
I've put new correctly gapped bkr7e plugs in, tried to switch coil packs with another sr motor, compression test, all of which has led to nothing so far.
Sorry for such a lengthy post, this is my first sr motor and I cannot seem to figure it out yet. Thanks for any help/info in advance!