Ok, I just discovered the PDF manual in my Witcher folder that I wasn't aware I had. The descriptions of abilities are more complete in the manual. Evidently each level of Igni allows you to use it at a greater distance. I don't understand why the devs chose to omit that information in the descriptions on the abilities screen.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
I think what you're missing is that these represent different phases of your attack.

Thanks Dhruin, I understood that about the sword abilities already. Do you know if the damage bonuses are cumulative like in my example above?