Best setup for a merc

i would say eth upped shaft or a good eth stone armor due to their high defence and eth gaze

With that kind of setup on lets say a might merc, damn that merc might have a chance against some big mofo's of this game. Nice dude.

why not use holy freeze merc

I put
Famine
TalIthAmnThul
Tal (7) + Ith (6) + Amn (11) + Thul (10)
Works: Axes and Clubs
Clvl Required: 23

or

Malice
IthElEth
Ith (6) + El (1) + Eth (5)
Works: All Melee Weapons
Clvl Required: 15

the life drain doesn't affect my merc for some reason..i used act2 merc when i started up a new charactor.

why not use holy freeze merc

Because you can get a Doom(runeword) weapon for him and it gives Holy Freeze.