It is. Merc there is just minor suplement. Most of the time noone uses it and it's almost useless except some areas on norm.

Check out my P8 HC sorc WT on Classic (No LoD). I used merc a few times bot mostly for fun to see how useless they are. Although I must admit - I used A3 merc to kill 1% hp Torc in travi because of cold immun

i rarely used merc before, i though it stole my xp xD
anyway on my current walk i use a act1 merc with as bad dmg as u can possible get just for the amp, the Helm is something like skullcap 7fire res/10fhr and the armor is treachury the bow got like 8-11 dmg.

i often forget about gearing the merc, but i do love the curses and auras they can provide

lets see you do a players 8 walk without or without a merc.

xd