Given the current spells that are missing it makes me wonder why theyd go for the abjuration wizard as one of the first options for the EA.
Abjuration wizards need access to ritual magic and reaction spells to even get any decent use out of their ward. So the ward is like half of what it should be and there are hardly any decent spells to trigger it with and even some pf the abjuration spells that are available are nerfed, like mage armor having a really short duration. I know it might be tricky implementing a spell dith a duration of 8 hours in a game that doesnt count the hours of a day, but having mage armor last untill you long rest would be way closer to pen and paper DnD than maming it last one encounter. It still costs a spell slot and doesnt give amazing armor so its not as if it would allow wizards to act like tanks if it were to last the full adventuring day.