What is the best healer in Dark Heresy?

There is no "healer class," but a Pysker who takes the Scholar route and Biomancy will have access to several healing powers, the Medicae skill, and the Master Chirgeon talent, as well as several powers which raise the success rate of skills or allow re-dos. This makes them a strong choice for a character who is strongly focused on healing.

Psychic Powers, however, are rather risky. The Adept is a non-combat oriented class which has the option to take Chirgeon as their fourth rank. This rank gives full access to the Medicae Skill, Master Chirgeon, and Talented (Medicae). Apart from being a great doctor, Adepts are rather knowledgeable and are great problem-solvers.

If the GM allows their use and you are playing a Puritan campaign or don't mind some friction with the less devout, you can make an Adepta Sorioritas. The Sisters of Battle are somewhat overpowered soldier-nuns, and have a career option dedicated to battlefield healing. This gives Medicae goodness along with some nice Faith powers which let you spend or burn Fate Points to help out your Medicae skill.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Adepts may choose a at the highest levels path which give access to a few Minor Psychic Powers and one Major Power, which can be used to take powers which are useful for healing.

Hodgepodge said:

Or you can go the other route to get Unnatural Intelligence, which will boost the healing from Medicae.

True. Also, of the three classes, Adepts may purchase Intelligence advances for the least experience. Psykers pay slightly more, and Sororitas pay for the Intelligence at the rate for secondary stats (affordable but somewhat expensive). Basically the choice boils down to supreme Intelligence (Adepts on the Sage path), wide range of easily used psychic powers (Psykers), narrower psychic power with a wider range of non-psychic skills (Magister Adepts), or relatively strong firepower and Faith skills which boost healing and incidentally help against Daemons (Sororitas).

Note that for Psychic and Faith powers, Willpower is also quite an important stat.

If you're starting at Rank 1, I'm going to have to recommend Psyker. For almost every class, the Medicae skill is not available before Rank 4. That's not actually terribly long to wait, but Psykers can take a few limited healing powers right out of the gate. (Oddly enough, Scum get Medicae at Rank 2, but never get much better at it).

If you ignore the dangerous Psychic healing, the adept or the techpriest....

A friend of mine is playing an Adept in my campaign and has an Intelligence of 55, he bought Medicae, Medicae +10 and Master Chirgeon all in the same career...so that is a basic 75% success, 105% with a medpack...

I had to think of some serious penalties to hinder them in the Red Cages...

Santiago said:

Why?!?!?

If they've worked hard to finally become competent at something, against core rules mechanics that enshrine their incompetence, why would you as GM 'hinder' (penalise?) them for it?

Well, very unsanitary surrounding, little time to actually properly lend first aid, no med-kit even no primitive tools in the beginning.


They made it, they had a blast and now they are reasonably kitted to take on the Gabriel Chase.

I don't have the book in front of me but doesn't the tech priest get Medicae at level 2. Plus intellect is primary stat, they get most of the skills later on and the option for a medicae mechendrite.

Yes, but the adept gets more of healing skills and talents. Both are pretty good healers, and get better if they get a x2 int bonus boost....

Although, come to think of it, you might interpret the Tech Priest's ability to recharge Las ammo as a healing ability. Likewise, they have some nice utility in other ways, like Feedback Screech and so forth that might fit a healing theme.