I’ve already made a post about this under Bug Reports, but I was told that it was intentional design and to post about it here. Here is the link to the original post if you are interested: Firebrand Range Detection - Bug Reports - Last Epoch Forums.
The option mentioned in the title is supposed to move your character just enough to get you into range when using a melee attack. However, there is a problem with the interaction and a few abilities, namely melee abilities that get increased lengthwise range. The original post was made about Firebrand’s stacks, but it was brought to my attention that it happens with Flurry’s Shockwave node, and I discovered it also happens with Puncture’s Cross Forward node. I don’t know if it happens with other abilities, these are just the ones I know about.
The problem is, when a melee ability gets increased range, the option still moves you into the “base” range. For example, when you have 6 stacks of Firebrand, it has 150% increased range. If you try to attack an enemy that is out of the 0 stack range but within the 6 stack range, it moves you towards them anyways and attacks them at the 0 stack range. If the enemy is outside of the 6 stack range, it also moves you to the 0 stack range to attack. There are a few ways to bypass this, 1. Hold down shift when using Firebrand at a range greater than 0 stack range, 2. Attack the air or an enemy within the 0 stack range first and then hold down the attack button to target enemies farther away enemies, or 3. Turn off the option.
For Flurry, the option moves you to the default range and ignores the extra range from the shockwaves, and for Puncture it ignores the extra 30% range from the Cross Forward node.
With Puncture and Flurry, the gameplay effects are not huge since the range increase isn’t that big and you have mobility options that usually bring you into range. With Firebrand on the other hand, it causes you to walk into 2/5ths of the range (assuming 6 stacks) to attack, which can easily cause you to die, either by pathing you into enemies or into telegraphed abilities.
The problem is I believe that the option does not take into consideration any changes in range other than the weapon’s base range, which seems to work fine. The option is meant to move you the least amount possible to be able to hit with a melee attack. It does exactly that when the range is not increased by any nodes or passives. I believe the option should do that even when the range is increased, instead of just ignoring the additions and multipliers.