The Warshade Recharge Dilemma

You'll need about ~87% global recharge, plus 3-slotted Hasten, and a well-slotted Eclipse (which is as little as 4 slots) in order for Eclipse to be perma. That's what I have on mine, and I have a few seconds of leeway before it expires that I can fire it again. For teaming, you don't really *need* to have it perma, since if it goes off in-between spawns, you can just jump into the next spawn and hit it again.

No, your WS life doesn't have to be stuck to Eclipse-Mire-Nova. You can pop into Dwarf to taunt some baddies away from some squishies, pound on some annoying Boss or other pesky mob, do some in the moment controlling with Inky and Gravitic Emanation and Gravity Well if things suddenly get out of control and need it. Every AT is going to have a certain repetitiveness (BU+Aim+AoE's for a blaster, for example), and IMO the WS has some of the most versatility to keep it interesting.

On my purpled shade, teaming generally involves me trying to dive head first into every spawn, chew 'em up in whichever way possible (Nova usually, Quasar when it's up, Well, Dwarf), summon pets whenever possible, watch for bad situations that can be cleaned up easily (ambushes especially, or teammates in trouble). When in Nova, time spent maneuvering will help turn the KB into KD, and is more entertaining for me then just sitting there pushing a button.

I skipped most of the human form blasts on my tri-form, Shadow Blast is decent.
Gravity Well is a real heavy hitter.

No, don't need the shields if you have Eclipse perma (or am using a tri-form for that matter).

Dwarf is very useful, imo, try it and see if you like it, although until the attacks are slotted half-way decent, you might not be impressed.

Inky Aspect is pretty good, especially paired with Gravitic Emanation (a VERY good power). Those two together can stun a boss quickly and allow you to stack holds from Well if you want.

Unchain Essence's damage will be beat by simply firing the two Nova AoE's, and those two will recharge the same as normal AoE's, while Unchain is on a long timer. And Unchain requires targeting a mob. And does KB (Nova's KB is much better since you can fire down on mobs easily). Those are the reasons I don't like it. But several others around here do.

Quasar - standard nuke. But combined with double Miring plus all your endurance back with a Blue + Stygian Circle, it's really nice.

Edit: As for costs, 3 LotG uniques, Basilisk's in Gravity Well, 2 sets of Stupefy in Gravitic and Inky, Doctored Wounds in the Dwarf heal, will total to 47.5% recharge. Those wouldn't be too expensive (so long as you spend a bit of time while leveling to do TF's and Ouro arcs for merits for the LotG's), and leaves you with 40% more to find in other places.

*Doh, cheap 4 pieces of Perfect Zinger in the Dwarf Taunt, and you're only 35% away from it now.

If you are trying to avoid boring, I'd definitely say level the WS. You will have far more options then any blaster or scrapper could, and a WS needs to use all of them at points, at least if you are teaming in tough content. Playing a WS for max effectiveness is challenging enough that I don't do it if I want easy mode.

Just for example, before you get the billion+ it will cost for the IOs to get perma eclipse, you need to be ready to drop to Dwarf form if eclipse is about to drop. Or even after if you are getting chain mezzed. Plus you want Extracted Essences out, which means dropping to human form, also needed for the Mire and to refire Hasten. Lots to do, the closest I've seen to the activity level of a WS is maybe a Kin defender or a MM, assuming you work at controlling your pets on the MM.

As a warning, there is still a bit of prejudice against taking Khelds on TFs and such, because of the Cysts that spawn. Those can easily be a party wipe if they aren't spotted and focused on properly, have keybinds for that as you can't count on the rest of the team for it. Plus a team leader doesn't necessarily know what they are getting in a Kheld, they may be looking for a backup tank and get a blaster (Nova only), or vice versa. Blasters and Scrappers don't tend to be in super high demand either, though, as there are usually plenty of them around to recruit.