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[SpacePoliticianAndaZealot]

So I started playing with fighter heavy fleets and I don't quite get it.

Will amassing Condors and Talon wings do the trick? Is there a limit of how many fighter wings can be "assigned" to a single carrier? Is having just one even viable (not counting the obvious risk of losing it)?
Do the Vulcans benefit from Extended Magazines?
(SS+) I've outfitted them Condors w/ Harpoon pods and they are, well, blasting. Is there something better for close-in fire support?

Cheers.

[Gothars]

Here are the basics:

Flight decks are a stat of carriers, one carrier can have one or multiple flight decks. As long as you have at least one flight deck in your fleet (deployed or not), fighter wings can not be lost permanently, they are repaired after battle.
When a fighter is destroyed while a unoccupied allied flight deck is in battle, it will be rebuild there. Rebuilding a fighter costs some of the fighter wings CR or replacement chassis (which is basically the same stat for wings). How much/many varies from wing to wing.

The thing is, if an entire fighter wing is destroyed in battle, it is out for the duration of the battle. As long as there are replacement chassis and one fighter of the wing it alive (that includes fighter currently under construction), the entire wing will be rebuild. That means you need to have a sufficient number of flight decks to replace your lost fighters quickly, otherwise the entire wing will get kicked out of the fight.

What flight deck:wing ratio is necessary depends on your wings and on how heavy the fight is. Something like one flight decks for three fighter wings or one for two bomber wings should work.

Now as to which fighters are good, I'd recommend Broadswords and Thunders, and maybe some Talons for light duty. Talons alone won't bring you far. I'd also recommend to use bombers, Daggers a nice. The best carrier is arguably the Heron.

Do the Vulcans benefit from Extended Magazines?
(SS+) I've outfitted them Condors w/ Harpoon pods and they are, well, blasting. Is there something better for close-in fire support?

Cheers.

No, and Salamanders can be better, depending on what else you got.

[SpacePoliticianAndaZealot]

Welp, I've got Annihilator pods, Sabot pods, and moar Harpoons. Scavenged one Inferno MIRV from a Renedgade but I've reserved it for my Arachne. Also, I think I'd rather outfit flare burst launchers on my Condors in near future, since I'm now chums w/ Tri Tachyon and such (Playing some condensed Nexerelin, forgot to mention that; started from scratch, and climbed my way to a Tritach-sponsored privateer).

And yes Broadswords and Thunders are awesome, but I can't aquire them in required quantities, nor do I feel that they would fit in this particular setting.
The reason being that I've noticed that only Talons and Wasps can be considered truly agile: while not counting beams and dedicated anti-fighter platforms (which I don't really see in pirate fleets), they can outrun/outmaneuver enemy PD systems; and 4 Talons and 2 Wasps can really lock down a destroyer or two.
I may be running a little off the track here, but all fighters are squishy, and all but the fastest are kinda forced to tank shots, which is exactly what a fighter should not do.
Also, the sheer numbers of these make them excellent missile screens, even stopping an Annihilator sweep cold.

And, yes, Heron is just dandy, actually there is one waiting for me to buy it, but don't have Dosh at hand :/ but since I have joined a faction, that should clear that up soon enough.

[Blaze]

I find it useful to have a few shepherds around, their drones act as a buffer to protect your more expensive fighters.

I'm playing a mining fleet relying on fighters/bombers as its hammer. Shepherds can work as cargo ships, mining ships, and a drone bay.