Best Ship?

[Madhax]

The zoltan b is easy to get. A lucky encounter with an unshielded auto-scout, which are common in sector 1, can get you the shields holding achievement.
The Manpower one can be easily earned by heading straight for the exit and running when possible.

Hah, I should have done that. I tried a few times to play the game straight up without reactor upgrades and failed hilariously.

Had to play on easy-mode to just barely get the 29-power achievement. Got to the Last Stand with about 22 reactor power and four Zoltan, then hopped around fighting random encounters to get the last few pieces of scrap. I had to let the flagship get to the Federation base and lost, but by unlocking Zoltan B a single jump beforehand, it was totally worth it.

[SleepyMage]

I'm going to put my vote in for Rockship B. The Shivan, while lacking door controls, starts with a few great things.

The Heavy Pierce Laser I is the best weapon in the game for the beginning, in my opinion. With a nine second cool down it ignores one shield and does two damage. More so than any other weapon it makes the first few sectors on normal a cakewalk. Having four rockmen off the bat gives a great boarding/defense party and the rock plating is nothing but a positive augmentation.

The drawback that this ship is supposed to have is the lack of door controls, but honestly fire and boarding parties rarely pose a threat to your starting crew plus whoever you manage to bring on board.

[A Rock Called Wanda]

Red-Tail. It has a few underappreciated benefits: the layout is compact and quite good, it has conveniently-placed airlocks, medbay is right next to the crew teleporter, and you don't need to acquire any particular weapons. (Seriously—I've won with just four basic lasers. It's not easy but you can do it if you're good with boarders.) You don't need missiles or drone parts for a very long time, so by the time you get them and start using them you'll have immense stockpiles. Your crew gives you free power and you're halfway to your mantis murder team at the beginning, and you've got a full complement to start with.

I'd say I can pull off about 90+% wins with Red-Tails. Shivan comes close but isn't quite as good. There's more luck with Engi ships; you need more weapons and luck with drones parts or you risk running out. I'll have to play around more with the Zoltan B, though!

[gamma_ray_hjz]

I really think that the zoltan b is the best ship, but not because of its weapons. its layout is one of the most compact in the game, and no room is more than 3 rooms away from an airlock.

[Darkelve]

Another vote for the Red-Tail, for the same reasons that "A Rock Called Wanda" gave.

Even though I did not unlock every ships yet, e.g. I don't have the Zoltan B.

[madattak9]

The zoltan b is easy to get. A lucky encounter with an unshielded auto-scout, which are common in sector 1, can get you the shields holding achievement.
The Manpower one can be easily earned by heading straight for the exit and running when possible.

Hah, I should have done that. I tried a few times to play the game straight up without reactor upgrades and failed hilariously.

Had to play on easy-mode to just barely get the 29-power achievement. Got to the Last Stand with about 22 reactor power and four Zoltan, then hopped around fighting random encounters to get the last few pieces of scrap. I had to let the flagship get to the Federation base and lost, but by unlocking Zoltan B a single jump beforehand, it was totally worth it.

Its super easy, I got both those achievements on my first run with it. The hardest achievements are the Kestrel ones, I still havnt got KestrelB but I have Zoltan B Engie B and Fed Cruiser B

[Vexov]

Engi-A is pretty solid early on, but you'll have to pray to come across some decent weapons later on. At most it can keep 3 shields down(guess it could differ and anyone can correct me/or give better detail info).
Good ship for drones.

Mantis-B is amazing, a 4 pad teleporter and comes with lvl 2 shields!. and of course 2 mantis crew(you can take leave of ship and pilage away). Of course that teleporter is the only way back(so be aware when attacking ships with missles or bombs(bombs can't be shot down by defense drone).
Oh ya, it starts with the drone system and a defense drone!.
I pretty much just pilage all the ships i come across, which is the best way as you seem to get a GREATER increase of coming across weapons and the resources seem to always be great as well(since you didn't blow up the ship lossing much of all potential goods).

Mantis-A also starts with a teleporter, i like this ship as well... but I find relying on the bomb is terrible, it is effective and great but I run dry of ammo due to never coming acrosss other weapons.. not to mention the costs even if you do.. weapon systems and if you do buy a new weapon.

Steath Cruiser's are fun to run with, they take some knowledge or experience to know how to start off with.

[FDru]

Engi-A is pretty solid early on, but you'll have to pray to come across some decent weapons later on. At most it can keep 3 shields down(guess it could differ and anyone can correct me/or give better detail info).
Good ship for drones.

Ion MK2 can keep any amount of shields down, so the only trouble with the Engi A is finding one normal weapon before you run out of drones, and then getting more firepower to help with the flagship's shield since it'll cloak and recharge them before the ion can take them out. Some late game encounters can still be tedious due to misses (3 misses in a row and all of their shields come back up) or defense drone IIs which will shoot down your Ion, so obviously trying to get some decent firepower is sensible.

[Vexov]

Oh, the mantis-B, that possible issue of not being able to return back .. isn't an issue!, so long as everyone is dead on the enemy side you can return with one of their shuttles.
I really do need to insure you can take out the medic sections, especaily for the end-boss or atleast plenty of fire power that you won't need to rely on invading.(I suggest a good bomb, and save up missles)

[SleepyMage]

I have a new found respect for The Basilisk. It may be one of my favorite ships at this point. It starts with two shields, a drone system, AND a four man teleporter. The two drawbacks are that you start with less than a desirable amount of crew members and no weapons.

The no weapons factor really isn't an issue. If you run into a Zoltan, AI, or medbay equipped ship then simply run away. You start with exceptional defenses to provide you with escape chances. Every other ship is game to be taken for 20% extra scrap and possible crew members or items. You don't absolutely need weapons until the end boss anyway. As you progress through the game you find weapons to take care of those beginning obstacles.

The lack of a proper crew, on the other hand, is the big thing to worry about. It's down to luck whether you find crew members or not early on to make for lack of a pilot when you're raiding as well as making the most out of your teleporter. For that reason I don't know if it is the best ship, as other ships that involve a necessity of luck in the beginning to be properly outfitted. But still, it is a damn fine ship.