There seems to be some kind of "strength" involved in the tier of the NPC's armor, similar to that of Moghancements. Let me explain: * I started out this entire experiment by levelling my NPC in Rolanberry Fields (S) with only hands unlocked, as explained above. I did this for at least three calls. After the first, I switched from my previous armor to the Light Armor tier. After the second, I got the second level of Light Armor hands and after the third, the third level. * After the long frustrating process described in the cases above, I wanted to work on Heavy hand armor. I left the hands unlocked and returned to levelling in Uleguerand Range as described above on mobs I knew would level me along the Heavy Armor tier. * After a number of calls, my NPC's armor did not level up.