Clerics are the best for healing. Because you are going into this with others, I'd especially recommend having a cleric because, in relishing each level, you'll want to have a class that gets the best heals earliest, and had the best mana to heal ratio. Sadly, you are right about it not being as versatile as other classes. A group will tend to want the healer to be focused on healing. It doesn't have to be that way for a Cleric though. You can be a battle cleric and solo if you want to take that direction, but because groups want healers, you will not hear as much about this track. Versatility is possible, but in 1999, you'll have to decide on an approach and make choices that have consequences.
I am new myself, so you might want to take what I say with a heavy grain of salt. My main "group" sort of Cleric is 17. My "battle" Cleric is 12. I have a Paladin that is 12 too. I imagine that some would predict that my "battle" Cleric will become uninteresting at some point, but I'm enjoying them all for now.
All this said, I think you'll want a Druid for ports and healing regardless of getting a Cleric. I think that if you don't get a Cleric, you might want one or two Paladins to work with the Druid for back up / emergency heals.
A lot depends on the dynamics of what your group want.
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