[Tuidjy]

It's on the second turn that the caster failed to detect anyone. The spell
managed one feeblemind on the turn it was cast, so it's not failing in 100% of
the cases. Of course, I have no idea whom it got, and where. It was not one of
the mages in the provinces I hit (with teleport) on the next turn.

I just did some testing in one the testing mods (the one that give both sides
a ton of X10 angels with very high MR. With penetration bonuses adding to 9 on
the caster, there is no difference on the effectiveness of the spell. I think
it is quite clear that the caster does not benefit from levels or items. And
he definitely does in mind hunting - he pops the angels much too often, if anything.

I call it a bug. Can one of the developers chime in, please?

Is Strands of Astral Power supposed to allow bonuses for the targets but not
for the caster?