Looking at Patch 4.2.3
1. Hardened Ward is not only showing 0 shield strength on the tooltip (which was noted in the patch notes), it is actually providing NO shield whatsoever to either the player or their pets.
- Empowered Ward, Dampen Magic, and Harness Magicka's tooltips are wrong (as expected), but the value on the player's health bar is correct

Comparing Shield Strength to various bonuses:
0 Health Attribute = 15888, Max shield 40% = 6564
What is needed to reach shield cap? Blue/Purple Food + 1 Arcane Jewelry or 1 Large Magicka Enchant

10 Health Attribute = 17352, Max shield 40% = 7169
What is needed to reach shield cap? 10 Magicka Attribute + Blue/Purple Food + 1 Arcane Jewelry or 1 Large Magicka Enchant

20 Health Attribute = 18816, Max shield 40% = 7774
What is needed to reach shield cap? 20 Magicka Attribute + Blue/Purple Food + 1 Arcane Jewelry or 1 Large Magicka Enchant

Health Difference from 10 to 20 = 1464
Shield Difference from 10 to 20 = 605

So...as long as a player has equal or greater attribute points in Magicka as Health, uses a blue or purple max level food, and has one piece of max level large gear or jewelry, they will be at the 40% shield cap.

The bar for hitting this cap is so low, it will easily be hit by any Magicka player without even trying. Therefore, these are redundant: the Bastion CP star, Dampen Magic's bonus to shield strength based on light armor pieces worn.

So to get a bigger shield, we need to stack more into Health via attribute points, glyphs, or set bonuses, which will mean sacrificing Magicka, which will in turn reduce dps potential. This will likely not be worth it for groups with good healers (which, I suppose was the real point of this change), but it will be something to consider when playing solo or in PvP.

I would recommend that the extra % benefits of Bastion and Dampen should apply ON TOP OF the cap.