Merciful Trophy/Achievement

Does killing random bandits/cuman count against the merciful trophy/achievement? I’ve heard from some people say that it doesn’t, while others claim that it does. Which is it? Btw, I’m referring to the bandits/cumans that are NOT associated with the main quest line (like the ones found in the majority of the camps). Thanks.

ANY and ALL killing before the end of the main story will count in the merciful achievement

Spoiler

Except Runt

Does poison still work for merciful playthroughs? Or did they patch it out? (Apparently, poison/dot damage won’t count towards kills, from what I’ve read).

Side quest and random activity killing are just fine. I got the trophy.