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Hi there kalanafein,
My standard advice would be to play the character that you want, especially if you already built them. That said, that's explicitly not the advice you're asking for, so I'll run you through some particularly appropriate options for this AP
- An Oracle of Battle (+cure or +inflict) is a great melee or ranged combatant who is typically better at support than strict healing, but splashing healing spells (like those above) with certainly serve you well. I have one of these in my party right now, and mobility is their only significant issue - the right magic items can help with this. Sarenrae, Shelyn, Lamashtu, Urgathoa, Abadar - you've got plenty of main-pantheon deities who might be connected to an oracle of battle in this adventure.
- A Cleric with a decent Int (12-14) might be well-served by becoming a Loremaster (PrC), granting them pseudo-Bardic Knowledge and a lot of small bonuses that really add up when playing a skillful character without compromising spellcasting. If you pick this style, I recommend being a high-Wis cleric without bothering too much with Str or Cha. Loremasters are very welcome in this sort of adventure. I'd recommend Pharasma, Nethys, or Abadar for a core deity, though Desna is, as always, quite appropriate.
- If your party is down for a weird experience, take a look at a CN Cleric of Lamashtu. Lamashtu can support many builds of cleric, but a Human Cleric of Lamashtu with a 12 Int gets 4 skill ranks/level and has room to do melee, control, or support. Strength (Ferocity) and Chaos (Demon) domain for a mobile melee combatant! Madness and Trickery (Deception) for a control caster! Trickery and Chaos for a summoner/support!
- A Hospitaler Paladin (APG) can heal a lot of HP over the day, and has OK status removal thanks to mercies. With only the first two books, you won't have excellent healing options as a paladin, but this can at least keep a group on its feet. Paladins have plenty of opportunities to shine in this AP, and there are many faiths represented in the region as well.
- A Fighter 1 / Oracle of Waves X (with a longbow) may not be especially thematically appropriate, but the Water Sight revelation can take you pretty far. You'll be a full spell level behind on status removal spells vs. a cleric, but you'll still be able to keep up with the AP most of the time as long as you don't dip more than a single level in Fighter.
- A Witch (Healing or Ancestors patron) can contribute primarily as a battlefield controller while having a decent selection of cleric-esque spells (healing for status removal, ancestors for buffs and utility), as well as delayed-progression resurrection magic. My party had a witch as their primary healer, controller, and scholar all the way through Level 10. They lived?
I hope this helps and good luck on the AP.
I advise you not to feel pressured into playing 'the healer'. You really don't need one, and picking a class you don't want to play for a multi-year campaign is a bad idea imho.
If someone in your group feels passionately that there needs to be a 'healer' in the party, then let them play it. I suggest you choose whichever class you most want to play out of the complete list available (that your GM has ok'd).
You don't need a healer, you need someone who can either cast healing spells or who can wield wands to cast those spells.
I also would like to add my agreement with the others that players should play what they want, and should not be pressured into a particular role.
There are a variety of ways to handle "healing". I will your dwarven ranger at 1st level is quite capable of using a cure light wounds wand. 1d8+1 times 50 is a lot of healing for only 750 gp at low level. The GM could make a used, 10 charge wand available on the market in Sandpoint for 75 gold pieces, something purchasable as a group as soon as you arrive.
There are also other options available to the GM if no one in the party wants to play a "healer" but the entire group feels its necessary. A slightly lower level GM NPC could fill that function.
However, to add to other crazy non-standard healing ideas:
At 3rd level take the Barbarian Lesser Celestial Totem raging power from the Pathfinder Player Companion: Champions of Purity. Its increases all healing from spells or effects by the caster level or character level while under its effects. This rage power can be shared to all your allies via raging song.
Also take the lingering song feat at 1st or 3rd.
At 4th level, pick the 2nd level spell "Path of Glory" from the advanced class guide as one of your spells known. 1 round of raging song (which lasts for 3 rounds because lingering) + 2nd level spell slot can heal each member of the party 16 hit points after combat at 4th level.
At 10th level, 3 rage rounds + 2nd level spell slot heals 100 hit points to each party member after combat over 10 rounds.
For 1st through 3rd, use cure light wounds, plus a wand. Well, you can also keep using cure spells since their on your list if you want.
Otherwise, the build is pretty open and lets you add other rage powers to your allies at higher levels. I'm personally a fan of superstitious->witch hunter->spell sunder. Especially if there's a sunder specialist in the party.
Keep in mind a skald gets to choose which rage powers to apply each time they start a song, so you could be superstitious one round, and then not the next if you spend the action to restart the song. There's no fatigue, so there's nothing preventing you from providing spell sunder once per rage, every round.
Or combine with different once per rage abilities.
Its quite happy to be sneaky, intimidating, or dishonest. Just don't go around doing them for evil reasons.
For party wide optimization, everyone could be a Fey Foundling (Inner Sea World Guide). It lets things like lay on hands and channel energy become much stronger (i.e. 1d6 is 3.5 average, while 1d6+2 is 5.5 average, or 57% stronger), plus it makes your wands go a little farther (36% more healing per charge of cure light wounds wand).
Playing the game should be fun, and playing a character concept you don't want to play is a fast route to make the game not fun.
The OP "REALLY dislikes the divine spell list" so I don't think an Oracle will keep them happy for a campaign.
It's just lame that players will insist there's a healer whilst refusing to play one. That's bad behaviour. If someone firmly believes a certain class needs to be in the party they should play it. It's not ok to pressure others to play a certain class. The OP should play whatever they want, and if one of the party who think a healer is essential really thinks that, they can play the healer.
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I wanted to address the OP's concerns as stated, but yes, on a "how to handle playing at a table with other people" level, I don't find the group's behavior acceptable.
1) Insisting there needs to be a healer instead of adapting the game to suit a no-healer party is silly when the devs have already taken steps to making the role unnecessary.
2) Insisting that someone should be made the healer via lots assumes that someone should sacrifice their fun for the good of the group. I think that leads to party conflict, resentment, and generally having a bad time.
3) Switching from something you clearly want to do to something that clearly disinterests you will take away from your experience and leave you wishing you were playing what you actually want to play.
If OP decides to go with this anyway, I hope my suggestions can help. But I would really recommend resolving this above the table, because the game hasn't even started and there's already unnecessary controlling behavior from other players.
Offer to use a wand of cure light wounds on your party's behalf as your ranger, and call your healing obligations fulfilled would be my genuine recommendation. Everyone should play what they'd be happiest playing for at least a year. And if there's a class to specifically include because of campaign importance, I'd say wizard! Wizards are a very big deal in this campaign, so if anyone's inclined to play one, why not have one? 'Healers' not so.
So I didn't read the whole thread but heres the tea. Healing is the whole partys responsibility. If there is no dedicated healer than the GM should work with the party to make sure things like CLW Wands and potions are available.
Pathfinder is a team game and I have seen the results of when a party doesn't want to work together or a player is suggested or forced to play something they don't enjoy and that is bored players on their phones or handhelds who just roll a d8 when there name is called and don't engage otherwise or just plain leave the game.
Alternatively, you could ask the GM to up the effectiveness and lower the base DC of the Treat Deadly Wounds function of the Heal skill, maybe lowering the DC to 15 and upping the amount of HP healed to 1d4 per level of the creature? To go along with that, you could ask them to allow you to use it more often per 24 hours per creature - perhaps with an increasing DC for each time it's used within a 24 hour period.It's always annoyed me how negelcted the Heal skill is.
2E really fixed the problem with the medicine skill and the 10 minute trat wounds action that cures 2d8 or 4d8 on a crit.
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Barbarian, Ranger, Cleric, and Sorcerer (Arcane or Sylvan) from the sound of it? Sounds like a good party!
It's true, the lack of those knowledges hurts, but with a cleric in the party (for divinations) and a Charisma-based character (for Diplomacy), the party shouldn't have much difficulty getting the information they need as long as they rely on NPCs a little.
At this point, I wouldn't worry too much. Your party comp is fine, the most important thing is just learning to work together as a team and everything should go smoothly.
I personally don't see the Knowledge lacking as a problem. The times that they are plot critical like at the end of book 4 the games gives significant resources to help you around low/bad skills. Any other time those skills come up it is for fluff and a gm who wants you to enjoy the story and environment will give you that fluff through other means.
In the way of things, a PC will probably die at some point, so you might get to pick something else. And if Knowledge (or anything else) seems to be a problem, you can fix it then.