Levelling 50+ for the first time, as WHM

Hello! I'm new to the game here and am running WHM as my first job. Doing quests in the first main zone I ended up in (Western Highlands), I'm really struggling to kill quest mobs at my level. A cast of Stone II (or whatever my rank of the spell is) does maybe 4-5% of a mob's HP. (I keep Aero up on it as well). Is this to be expected? I just passed 50 and am still in some gear from the 20s-30s. (I did my level 50 job quest for the set of gear).

Also - as Mind is my main stat, it says it increases healing done, as well as increased damage for characters in a healing role - if I'm out soloing, is this still true? Is Mind still what I want all of the time?

Thank you!

You need to get yourself some better gear. Theres ilvl 115 gear for you currently (I believe found in Foundation at the Jewled Crozier) , so you're missing out on a ton of defensive and offensive stats.

Yep, your gear is your problem, try to do a healthy number of dungeons as well, 60-70 offers up a ton of easy dungeon gear with the guaranteed drop mechanic now thankfully.

Mind is the stat on your gear that you want. Any class, ESPECIALLY a tank or healer class, should ALWAYS have updated gear and the best gear they can get their hands on, especially for dungeons/trials. If you're in gear from your 20-30s, that is why your damage output it so low.

Additionally - as a healer, you can apply regens to yourself to help your survivability. But the switch from int to mind for damage for healers has greatly increased our ease to DPS.

Yes, MND is your source of both healing and damage at all times, in a party or out solo.

Heavensward content came with a hefty increase to open-world enemy health. I can't remember how long it took to kill things going in at launch - anyone playing was in a combination of 120-135 gear at that time so they had it a little easier than you, not just in damage but also defense. It was definitely a step up from ARR enemies, and I remember tales of DPS without decent chocobos often simply dying.

As you pick up some Heavensward leveling gear things will get easier. You might be able to find some relatively cheap on the auction house, and I know there's a vendor in Ishgard that sells pieces, but don't know if any vendors sell right-side accessories. Definitely look at replacing that earring. Quests ought to start giving rewards as well.

In general, though, expect open world content to be beefier now. That plus your gear is going to make things seem a lot different than they did at, say, 49. Things may be slower, but you should always feel pretty safe due to your heals.

Other than getting better gears, level up your chocobo and use them as dps will be a big help.

Also, try finish the ARR main story before you get to the new zone. The main story quest rewards you with gears update from 2.1 to 2.55 (ilvl 70 to ilvl 110). So you will get a set of i110-120 gears just when you finish them. If this is your 2nd job at lvl 50 and you don't get the gears anymore, buy the white gear from vendor (i115), that is much better than the 20s-30s gears.