Slug B

Rush shields, then look for a weapon or hacking. You don’t need clone/medbay as urgently as you might think (prefer clone bay).

Even without Reconstructive Teleport, you can skip clone/medbay entirely, for an extra system slot. I don’t recommend it though, because clone/medbay will always take up a slot in stores, making it harder to find the systems you want. The extra system is only an endgame advantage, and by that time you’ve already won.

Mind control can be a strong purchase on a two-tile boarding ship, especially early, as it enables the same early-game tactics as Lanius B.

Consider teleporter-2, so you can more safely board automated ships. Without it, you can still board if you destroy piloting with your Artemis first (guaranteeing the Healing Burst will hit).

Start fights with one Slug in the teleporter, one in weapons, and the pilot walking towards the teleporter during the FTL jump. This gives the most flexibility: you have the option of boarding immediately, and also charging your Artemis as fast as possible.

Precise boarding technique helps your bombs/missiles hit. Use the Safety Dance to pull the pilot away. When completely safe, destroy systems for surrender offers (as low as 1 hull).

You can fight in the weapons room and hit it with a missile, dodging your crew out just in time. But it’s difficult to time consistently, so never do this when your crew are low on health (the Artemis does 30 crew damage).

In safe fights, you can often save a missile by taking no crew damage. For example, by boarding with 1 crew.

Defence drones cover this ship poorly: as weapons and clone/medbay are vulnerable.

Sector 1 distress beacons are…maybe worth visiting. You have blue options from the teleporter (okay) and the Slug (weak).