A better mercenary helpFollow

Here is the current situation I solo and I also group a lot. I primarily use a cleric mercenary but the issue is the Merc always runs out of mana very quickly. It does take some time for to regenerate Mana. I am wondering should I focus on aa or need gear or combo of the two. I am aware a mercenary will never be as good as a real cleric. I am wondering what's the best strategy for grinding merc aa. I have noticed whenever I make a toon and I ding level 20 The Merc gets 1 aa. I am wondering should I grind aa for the merc in level 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s or 80s. Should I hire a ranger to power level in a hotspot and just grind merc aa that way. There is some debate whether or not a merc will benefit from group bonus XP potion or even hotspots or when xp bonus is on.

https://eq2.fandom.com/wiki/Mercenaries for future reference. =)