Really, I'd expect those paralyzers to literally paralyze anything with a shield, bt indeed, they're half-useless against anything bigger than a lv 10 fighter shield.
Other missles work generally fine. cannonballs, firestalkers... pretty much okay the way I saw it. Matter of placing a lucky hit from head-on and the right distance. Hitting anything/anyone from behind/ or from the side (talking about fighters) is a pure waste of money. Firestalkers go crazy in phsics-defying loops, cannonballs act as if they were ungiuded. I personally rely on guns - can get by on much less cash on the ship. (yay, ammo getting cheaper)