Question: Astral Shield Strength

[JonBrave]

So I kitted my Golem guy(s) to go trample. He casts Astral Shield and then wades in. I thought AS would function a bit like awe, but my impression is he got thumped a lot. I notice the description says depends on S mage level, he's a 2, does that mean his AS is not good? Is AS forcing an MR check on every melee attacker? How does it compare to awe [Edit: which I guess is against MOR not MR]?

Tx.