What does +enhancement gear do, if anything?

As a test, I gave myself +3 enhancement on my level 24 cleric but it didn't change the strength I'd gained from strength buffs casted before and after.

i *think* it supposedly increases the effectiveness of base buffs up to a composite of 51. im not entirely sure though to be honest. all i know is that it was told to never really worry about templating in +Enhancement because if you spec 40 enh and have +6 from 2 DF rings by RR5 it wont matter. again, im not really sure though

According to this post, it only affect base buffs
You will need composite to 50 for the the last Str buff

https://www.uthgard.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10095

There is a 25% bonus to base buffs if at spec.

So if you want level 38 buff u need total 38 including skill +item+ rr.

RR3 with 30 enh to get to 38 is 30+2+6 in +enh item

Sometimes people used lower level buffs to get similar effect to reduce the concentration costs.

Morons whine when clerics did this thinking their buffs sucked but in fact were good just reduced cost in concentration as the lower level buffs were +25% as they were capped.