As the title of the post asks, why is abjuration wizard in EA? There are literally two spells that activate arcane ward, one of them is a once a day cast (mage armor) and the other one is near useless in the content currently available (Protection from good and evil).
Without shield in the game to give a consistent, useful, abjuration spell there's nothing to proc arcane ward. Its a choice between sculpting a couple spells or having 3 temp hitpoints once a day. This, combined with the fact that wizards can't currently access 3rd level spells, make it the weakest class among the available 6.
I suggest either allowing the arcane ward to proc on all leveled spells, or adding ATLEAST shield. Wizard feels naked without one of their two best defensive spells, and is probably why Gale has died the most.
Currently Wizard's best spell is Scorching Ray, or Magic Missile if you pick up the psychic amulet. Fiend Warlock and Light Cleric both get Scorching Ray, the prior making much better use of it with Hex, and the latter having armor proficiency, healing, and... a reaction ability that makes enemies miss?
is it just me or is light cleric a strictly better wizard?
