Yes, the "after" screenshot was taken out of combat, immediately after leveling up and choosing the talent. But I'm happy to report that Wary Defender works now. It's strange, but it seems that it needed at least one enemy encounter before it started working. Now, after the encounter it works both in and out of combat.
I remember having a similar problem with the priest's Brilliant Radiance and as a result i didn't take it. Maybe the same solution works there too.