Does the monk have any ranged damage skills?

Question

I know that the monk is clearly optimized for up-close work as a tank. What I'm wondering, though, does the monk has any skills with any range greater than touch? If everything is touch only, what is the greatest extent of one of his AOE powers?

Answer 1

The Monk has many many abilities that extend beyond melee/touch range. There are a few runed skills (like Hand of Ytar) that behave like fully-ranged abilities, but most of them focus on the mid-range. The Monk excels at quickly closing the gap to monsters, gathering them up, and then beating them down and debuffing them.

Here are all the Monk skills that reach beyond melee:

Ranged attacks:

• Deadly Reach - slightly greater range than melee
• Deadly Reach(Piercing Trident, Scattered Blows) - these runes extend the range further
• Crippling Wave (Tsunami) - Every 3rd strike reaches out to range
• Way of the Hundred Fists (Windforce Flurry) - Every 3rd strike reaches out to range
• Lashing Tail Kick (Spinning Flame Kick): Summons a small fire tornado that hits enemies in a line
• Lashing Tail Kick (Hand of Ytar): Changes into a ranged attack that also slows
• Wave of Light (all runes): All forms of this skill do ranged damage
• Breath of Heaven (Circle of Scorn): heals allies and damages enemies
• Sweeping Wind (all runes): All versions of this let you hit the area around you. Runes allow you to extend the radius and spawn ranged lightning tornadoes.
• Mantra of Conviction (Submission): This version damages nearby enemies, like Sweeping Wind.

Gap-closers:

• Fists of Thunder (Thunderclap): Technically melee, but you teleport to the target.
• Way of the Hundred Fists (Fists of Fury) - Adds a dash to the first strike
• Dashing Strike (all runes): All versions of this let you charge a remote target.
• Cyclone Strike (all runes): All versions of this let you pull in remote enemies. A rune lets you extend the range.
• Seven-Sided Strike (Sudden Assault): This lets you teleport to the enemy, like Fists of Thunder.

Ranged damage reflectors:

• Serenity (Instant Karma): reflects damage at range
• Serenity (Reap What Is Sown): damages enemies in AOE based on prior incoming damage
• Mantra of Retribution (Retaliation): This reflects ranged damage to attackers.

Answer 2

Deadly Reach projects force "over a short distance" with every third strike extending to 25 yards. With the Scattered Blows rune, it will hit up to 6 enemies within 15 yards for 170% weapon damage as lightning.