I know that the mage armor perks work well with ebonyflesh, stoneflesh and other similar spells to lessen the extent of physical damage inflicted on those wearing no armor; but do those perks also work in conjunction with the ward spells with regard to physical damage?
For instance, if I had the perks and fought with melee while casting a ward spell, does the ward spell offer a lot of protection or do you have to wear armor to reap the rewards of the ward's physical protections?