He was mentioning PVP by the way.
At any rate, since all classes love seeing a merc, you will die alot since we are easy to kill. How I have mitigated this is to play as tactically as possible. I am never the first one to engage, I always follow someone else up (like a support class should). I also always try to be near other support classes/mercs if possible to extend the amount of time before dying by simple attrition and hoping to get picked last:D I also make it a point to mark out any team healers and do my best to protect in the hope of a future pity heal lol
I even disengage and hide for a few short seconds to try to stay out of sight/mind, then come in from a different direction (yes behind a friendly) if possible.
Also, you are trying to compare one of most OP classes (everyone runs a sniper) with the worst for PVP, so yes, BH is hurting atm.
I did the opposite of what you did, got frustrated with my merc, rolled sniper, entered WZ's with nothing but people playing snipers and mara's. Then I deleted sniper and went back to hard mode merc. Don't give up, we'll get our buff.