Perhaps in the upcoming Campaign new merc items with worn effects and weapon procs could be added? Maybe special merc items (e.g. watered-down Shawl 3.0 aug-like effect, Hand of Holy Vengeance line, lifetap proc, or even Divine Aura/Harmshield) could be introduced as global rares or extended quest/tradeskill line? It could add some to group dynamics and roleplay. (Who has the special merc sword or shield? Indirectly resurrecting demand for warrior and rogue mercs). Since mercs are not permitted in raid expeditions and said effects would be limited in scope (+modified proc rate), it shouldn't cause heavy issues with balancing or trivializing of content/players.
Last I heard, offhand weapons for mercs still don't work. I think they should get the basic functionality working first before adding further layers of complexity.
Daybreak Community Issue Tracker Bug EQ-79 - Mercenary gear lowers merc effectiveness Gonna have to agree with Beryon here.
Note, priority minor just means it's not game threatening. It doesn't mean DGB's priority on it is minor. Of course, there are already 1000's of items on the 'wish list' before this site ever came out, but DGB is doing an ok job of going through our requests and updating things because of it.
The dev team has been doing a great job on bugs. If it is categorized as "minor", it might even receive more attention. Since it is largely bugged for dual wielding (DPS decrease) and shield (agro decrease), a worn effect or proc might be a creative solution to the current issues (i.e. agro modifying merc shield, DD proc to make up for dual wield). This is assumption of course.
