Thermal/kinetic isn't so important in CQC as in the main game, as it's just +/-10% resistance for the most part. Heat beam and rapid cannon are both quite specialist weapons, so I would think difficult to use optimally together, but potentially a nice combination versus Eagles, and the rapid cannon's zero distributor use will of course be a big benefit combined with the expensive heat beam. Could be a good combination if you can pull it off.
Chaff is very good for a utility, silent running can be better if you get it right ... yes, in both cases people can just aim, but the Imp Fighter is tough to keep a lock on so you still avoid quite a bit of the damage if you don't just fly in a straight line ... shield boosters I wouldn't go for because they don't add that much extra survival time if you're being focused.
There's no really OP combinations - though quite a few bad ones compared to the stock rank 1 Condor - but there is a bit of rock-paper-scissors. For example, Eagle+OC Pulse is very strong versus light fighters 1-on-1 (the best recommendation if you're the light fighter is to back off, take cover, and try to lure the Eagle into a close-in furball where its size will hurt it), Sidewinder with multicannons or scattershot can be deadly to Eagles when flown well (especially if you can surprise them), but the light fighters won't be threatened by the Sidewinder much at all because they can just outrange it and dodge most of its attacks. So being able to swap ships based on the situation can be useful - or help balance out a team. The light fighters are certainly the easiest to fly well.
In terms of light fighter loadout it's pretty similar for Condor or Imp Fighter, though the Condor tends to either start with the good stuff or unlock it much earlier - the Imp only really catches up at rank 40:
Weapons:
- pulse lasers are generally the best general purpose weapon combining hitscan damage with reasonable capacitor use
- heat beams have a range advantage (and the minor heat effect can be useful versus silent running/heat sink targets) but use a lot of WEP
- rapid cannon use no WEP at all and can be very good against the larger ships, but are very limited 1v1 against another light fighter because they're easy to dodge
The other two light fighter weapons aren't very good, but at low ranks you'll have to use burst for a while in the Imp Fighter (the Condor gets pulse at rank 1, of course)
Utility:
- chaff, or silent running if you're good at evading and aiming together. None of the other light fighter utilities are worthwhile.
Others: these tend to be pretty well balanced, overall
- it's generally right to have a "more boosts" module - either engine-focused distributor or efficient boost diverter - and lots of people use both, though that does start to add noticeable downsides
- most weapons do thermal so the reversed resistance shields on the Condor are usually the right choice ... on the Imp Fighter the oversized ones don't really have much downside
Eagle loadout:
- I'm not really an expert on this. OC Pulse is the big one most people use, heat sinks for defence, and the rest to taste.
- similar comments about distributor or diverter for more frequent boosts.
Sidewinder loadout:
- multicannons versus light fighters (or a multicannon and a pulse laser), or consider scattershot if it's mostly other heavies you're fighting. Frags are terrible in CQC, don't bother with them, and the tracking multicannons require rank 50 and aren't worth the wait.
- shield cell bank is by far the best general purpose utility, but silent running can sometimes lure people into facetanking you
- efficient boost diverter. You need the boosts to turn round in this thing, so the more you get the better ... and the Sidey can't fit engine-focused distributor, so efficient boost is all you have
- rest to taste
