barb splash

[painkiller3]

I was thinking about trying 2 barb splash not for rages but rather the speed bonus and weapon boknd bonus to drr which is badly needed...if a character planner opens up I'll post more details

[Makkuroi]

I think 2 ranger has more to offer for cleric, 75 positive spell power and sprint boost, plus some free feats if you want twf or a ranged option. Barbs core dps ability, rage, shuts down your spellcasting which is dangerous.

[unbongwah]

Rgr Pos Spellpower just got nerfed; and barb splash also gets you +3 Power Atk plus you can add +3% Dodge for 4 APs.

I'm not sure I would count on Weapon Bond on a caster, though, unless you can slot all your Spellpower gear into non-weapon slots, since it resets every time you swap weapons.

[JollySwagMan]

Prior to the enhancement update a 1-Barb splash provided a substantial speed boost.
19/1 Dwarven Cleric/Barbarian was a pretty solid option for 28 point ftp starter build IMO.
18 Wisdom + levelups, 16 Con, 14 Str (and extra Turning to make up for dumped Cha)

With the enhancement update Sprint boost has been bumped up to a level 2 ability.
Bards have gained the ability as well.
DDO Wiki indicates that the AP cost is 1 per rank for Barb and Bard...I may need to double check this as I seem to remember Barb being 2 AP per rank now.

Barbarian (Frenzied Berserker)
Ranger (Tempest)
Bard (Warchanter)

Looking at basic class abilities...

Only Barbarian gets a base speed increase, as well as Intim as class skill if interested.
Only Ranger gets Bow Str and first TWF feat for free
Only Bard gets UMD as class skill + 2 Bard spells

All give martial proficiencies (Bard can use Master's Touch spell/scroll)
All give more skillpoints than Cleric at first level...I'm not sure if the Cleric Faith weapon bonus requires taking a Divine class at first level yet (character planner seems to indicate so, but there has been so much to update this might be an oversight) will need to test. To my knowledge, players should receive the Magical Training feat with Cleric level regardless of whether it is 1st level or not

Looking at enhancements...

Barbarian offers a range of special attacks, including the rather interesting Ear Smash
Going up to Barb 3 has some tempting options as well for a melee DPS focused build less interested in party healing, but in that case I think a deeper splash or some Fighter levels might be considered.
There's also an enhancement that gives a sprint boost whenever Rage is activated, but again...tricky to manage on a party healer.

Ranger splash offers some interesting Ability-swapping options...
could focus on Dex to use some of the Weapon Finesse type enhancements (Tempest and Deepwood Sniper)...
or even try an experiment with Zen Archery, Divine Might and Bow Strength on a Wisdom+Charisma focused build.
There's also a neat Vigor ability that uses the Ranger Wild Empathy ability (in the same way Turns might be used for some abilities).

Bard also offers Rage now as well! Compared to splashing Barb, splashing Bard doesn't offer as many interesting special attacks, but more interesting options than just Rage. 2 Bard levels allows access to a temp HP buff with Inspire Competence, some extra songs...more Bard levels allows for Spellsinger Song at level 3, and Sustaining Song at 4. 4 levels might be a bit much...but I'm thinking of trying out a 17/3 Cleric/Bard sometime now.

I've waffled on enough, hope some of that was helpful

[mna]

I'm not sure if the Cleric Faith weapon bonus requires taking a Divine class at first level yet (character planner seems to indicate so, but there has been so much to update this might be an oversight) will need to test. To my knowledge, players should receive the Magical Training feat with Cleric level regardless of whether it is 1st level or not

I have a rogue(mostly)/ranger/1cleric that got the faith-based feat and Magical Training just fine at the cleric level (7 or so). Reported as a planner bug in that thread already.

(The faith-based weapon feat was completely useless for that build though. Scimitars would've been better, but Undying Court is for elves only and it's a halfling so... oh well, it's a dex-based mostly-rogue that can cast Cure Light from Echoes till the cows come home.)