The Monk in D&D4e is very much a melee combatant, as most Monks tend to be. Generally, this is okay because he should have the support of a Controller or other ranged combatant in his party. Unfortunately, there are some cases in which he may be separated from that support, or those supporting characters are preoccupied with other tasks in the battle.
Is there anything that can/should be done to make a Monk more effective against flying/ranged monsters in these situations?
Best Answer
Barring any fancy feats or abilities, a Monk has two main options against a flying creature: 1. Ranged basic attacks with a thrown weapon. 2. Ready an attack.
The latter is probably the more effective - you can use better abilities, and the monsters have to come to you eventually (even if they have fly-by or some other ability that allows them to move-attack-move back out of reach). If they are flying and ranged, then you'll be throwing things while your ranged companions do the heavy lifting.
If they're just ranged, then in most cases a Monk has enough movement abilities to close the distance and go for a "quarterback sack".