I'm sure this has been sorted out before so sorry if I'm late to the party.

If You've got Dash with Outrider HLC and a ship is in range one, does it have to be entirely within range one to be safe or does just a little bit of it being at range one make it safe.

It seems silly that you could measure range and see it's range one but since half of the base is at range 2 still be able to shoot.

Range is always measured closest-to-closest, so if part of it is in Range 1, then that's the range.

The FAQ ALSO clarifies what At and Within means.

It's nearest edge to nearest edge.

Here's a corner case question:

The outrider title says " ... may perform ...". So if the nearest part of an enemy ship inside the firing arc is at range 2, but outside of the firing arc it is at range 1, I should be able to shoot at the ship, right? I can say I want to shoot inside my firing arc, where the condition for the heavy laser cannon is met?

FAQ

Q: If a ship attacks an enemy ship with a turret weapon and the defender is also inside its firing arc, can the attacker choose to measure range using the rules for its firing arc instead of the rules for a turret weapon?

A: No. When attacking with a turret weapon (including a 360-degree primary turret), range is always measured from the closest point to the closest point.