Ok, one more time for this thread. I'm running out of bad ideas, so I'll start with some good ideas first;

* CURSED ITEMS!!! Yes! This means that certain items will come with a random necro curse that will always be active as long as it's worn. But the thing is, the level of the curse is only proportional to the level of whatever the amount of +skill the item has. So if a ring has a +10-50 towards Frenzy, you get that level of whatever curse with it, and woe is you if it's Iron Maiden >_>. Of course I hope these apply to normal drops and not unique items.

* Mercenaries should now equip boots, gloves, amulets, and rings.

* Act 4 Merc: I changed my mind yet again. An exact duplicate of the player. Yes, an NPC that has the same exact equips and skills that the player has.

Alternate suggestions: Diablo 1 class, Starcraft marine, AoE2 siege weapon, Ancients, Oblivion Knight, The Nameless One, Tommy Vercetti, and last but not least, George fucking Takei