Acquiring character shards, active and inactive requirements are different.

5* - 65

For Inactive, the shard count is to unlock at that * level. For active, your numbers are based on advancing to a * level from a lesser current * level. Either way, the shard counts are the same.

So for Kylo Ren to be 4* I just need to collect 80 shards, since that is what he unlocks at. Similarly, for Nightsister Initiate to get to 4* from her 1* unlock, I need to get (10 (1* unlock) +15 (to advance to 2*)+25 (to advance to 3*)+30 (to advance to 4*)) 80 shards. You're not getting ripped off. It's all equal.

85 shards will get me to 5* for active but, 80 shards will get a 4* inactive? Yep, that sounds legit to me. Unless I only need 5 shards once I unlock the 4* hero to get the 5*.

Your numbers are wrong. The highest you can unlock is 4*, which is 80 shards. Getting to 5* from there costs 65 shards. This is true for everyone, since the highest you can unlock is 4*. 85 shards is the cost to get to 6*.

Again, there are no shenanigans being played here.

Ok, so your saying it cost 80 shards to unlock a 4* then I'll need 85 more to level it to 5*? If you get 100 shards for a character from packs what would the result be once you promote that new character? Would if be 7*?

80 for 4 ,star then 145 for 5 star, then 230 for 6 star then 330 for 7 star total

You cant get 100 shards from a single pull, and the amount you get increases with the rank of the character if it's 4 star i think you get 32

Ok, I see now. The shard amount is reset for each star level. It's not continuous so, if I had 100 shards for a inactive character that would be a 4*. The extra 20 shards would carry over but I would need 85 more to complete the next star.

Upgrade Star Level Cost
1* = 10 (technically an unlock, but equal in cost)
2* = 15
3* = 25
4* = 30
Now, if you do a little math 10 (1*) + 15 (2*) + 25(3*) + 30 (4*) = 80 (shards to upgrade a character to 4*)

Unlock at Star Level Cost
1* = 10
2* = 25 (10 for 1* + 15 for 2*)
3* = 50 (10 for 1* + 15 for 2* + 25 for 3*)
4* = 80 (10 for 1* + 15 for 2* + 25 for 3* + 30 for 4*)
The end result is unlocking a hero at 1* and then upgrading them to 7* will cost EXACTLY the same number of shards as farming 80 shards to unlock a hero then upgrading them to 7*.
The only way to get heroes at cheaper shard cost is to unlock them from card drops.