I found a nice ogre axe for my merc, but it had to high STR. requirement.
So i socketed a Hell une in it to get requirement down. I can now equip the axe on the Merc but it turns “red” once its equipped. You can see from the damage sheet that its not actually active ( damage is verry low). It seems strange to me that i can equip it but merc can’t actually use it.
Have fun with it ^^
I’m getting this same bug. Made an ethereal cryptic axe obedience, my merc just hit level 59 and meets all the requirements (even with no other gear on) and I can equip the weapon on him, but it just turns “red” when equipped, and his damage numbers dont go up.
Appears the minus on requirements is not being accounted for when equipping obedience on a Merc. Bug to fix hopefully.
I got the same bug today. Did the same thing as you did, socketed Hel run into the ogre axe (Bonehew) and it turns red on the merc while its geared. This is so lame.