Their effective DPS is so bad even with high sheet DPS, there's really no point. I really wish they'd boost them, mercs had so much more depth in D2.

this

mercs had no depth in D2 at all except for the auras ... which it has here too by spending their skills ...

Never had a GG merc that would solo Baal?

/afk while merc kills

or GfG iron golems that would one shot players in duels.

k

Have you ever played D2? There were 4 different types of mercs with a ton more subtypes depending on the act, each with different skills/abilities. The act 2 mercs alone offered so much more depth with auras than the 3 useless skills and 1 marginally useful skill you get from D3 mercs. On top of that you could equip them with runewords offering way more customization options than what's possible with D3 gear.

D2 mercs were viable in combat to the point where you could have them handle any mobs immune to your damage type with no problems. D3 mercs struggle to kill white mobs even with the best possible gear. They're a complete waste of what could have been a good feature.

Act 1 and Act 2 both offered good mercs. In BM duels, act 1 bow mercs were really useful... act 2 mercs were also really useful. Depended on the build, but if you were teleporting around as a sorc with a bowmerc, it could do a ton of damage. It was fun. Yes, the barbarian merc was useless. However, you could pick from 1 of 3 useful auras in act 2, or an act 1 merc, and you could pick how you equipped the mercs. You could put useful additional auras on the merc. Fairly basic, but that's how a merc is supposed to be: fairly basic, but useful and customizable to fit a strategy.

Diablo 3? Less-so. A merc in Diablo 3 is basically end-game indestructible & meant to hold unity ring to take 50% less damage. Otherwise... not a lot here. The melee merc is useful when you're starting out in t1/t2/t3 for heals/etc. There's no strategy, other than the end-game goal of unity indestructible. You don't get to gear up the merc in any interesting way. You pick the best skills (which are always the same for everyone), and you gear them up with as much hp and as much damage as possible until end-game.