How do you use X effectively?

There are a number of systems/weapons that I sell immediately when picking them up (or have never been able to use effectively when purchased). I'm curious to see if others use them effectively:
*Shield boost (big) - love the point-defense sized one, can't justify missing a weapon for more shield when there is an alternative available (use the small one instead)
*Escape pod - seriously, does anyone use this?
*Transporter - I want to like this. Just can't figure out how it makes more sense than an extra weapon.
*Missiles - I want to like these too. In all my playtesting you just need an absolutely stupid number of missiles for them to be effective (5 mounts with 3 shots per volley)
*Tesla Coil - interesting novelty?
*Energy Gatling - ditto.
*Flak cannon - fun at close range, but I tend to die very quickly in close-range combat.
*Bolter fighters - saw a thread where someone mentioned they like these. Haven't been able to make them work well for me (they seem to spend more time fishtailing than shooting)

For those who are curious - here is what I find works well for me:
*Weapons
**Death Ray - my weapon of choice
**Projectile cannon - pairs very well with energy cannon
**Repair beam / shield regenerator

Point Defense
**Bolters - when you add a burst upgrade they become very effective
**Shield booster - really, really like these late-game

Fighters
**Bolter Drones - pretty good all game
**Plasma Bombers - very effective once fully upgraded (4 ships instead of 1)

This has been more or less my experience as well. I do occasionally use the large shield boosters on my front row ships, but they really only make sense when you use a bunch of shield repair drones with them. Unfortunately shield weapons in general are pretty poorly balanced, so shield based defenses like I just described aren't too practical. Most modules are better than they were before the update, but they need a lot of work before being truly balanced.

Shield Boost - Its ONLY use is when you find it early as part of a mission. It really needs to be a HULL boost, so it could have some conceivable use.

Escape Pod - Total trash.

Teleport - I use this early game with an Armada. Its fast cooldown lets me keep an EXACT range from the enemy... usually when I find 600-700 range ion mark 1 guns and/or lasers. I avoid their PD, dodge missiles and not get cheezed at long range. By the time you pick up a second ship, its useless. It probalby ought to work for the whole fleet.

Missiles - Human missiles and rockets are horrid. You only use missiles/rockets if you find some other race's where you can burstx3 them without their range going to crap and/or having to spend a fortune boosting range.

Tesla/Energy gatling - useless by the time you find it. Needs to be available on first map.

Flak Cannon - By the time you can get enough of them to justify a strategy, you generally are up against enemies that DO have them already. Which means you aren't countering them... you are just matching what they have. they arent readily buyable enough to try to use them early.

Bolter fighters are viable on HARD with the 2 bay carrier. Its a good way to get lots of fast firepower. They aren't great and get sold later, but they DO an excellent job of being large and soaking up damage.

If my main ship is a low hull carrier I use the escape pod, Will use the shield boost if it is a early mission, same with bolster fighters
All in all it all depends on fighting style

I take back all the bad things I say about teleports - I have found a use for them.

With a gun-heavy strategy (eg few/no fighters), teleports are really handy to allow you to quickly close the gap with enemies, and dodge large missile volleys. Right now I have it equipped on an Armada, which allows me to use that ship as a meat shield for weaker support ships. By being able to jump around every 10 seconds, I haven't lost a single ship (in 2 games running) and have only had to retreat twice.

Still trying to justify the escape pod and (large) shield boost.