I didn't take blackstar mostly because I couldn't figure out how to fit it in a slot it appropriately.
Your other points make a lot of sense and would spare me the slots to do that however. Plus it has felt silly jumping in just for soul drain, would make sense to follow up with blackstar.
The shields I was just overslotting for set bonuses. Guess the bonuses from all of those slots aren't really paying out in the end the more I think about it.
You're right about the global recharge as well. My biggest thing playing this character right now is that I want melt armor up so much more than it is so I don't have to feel precious about using it.
Going back to the drawing board! I appreciate the comments, thank you!