is there a reason why magic attacks just hits so poorly?
Not one I can figure out. The blue mages hit just fine. Its Shayd and Smoulder that are myopic.
Streght of Steel + Psychic Amplifier is not = to Illuminated mind. Why? if you gear up, you have bonus morale plus, it hits with critical attacks, and magic sucks already hitting target and magic never crits. I think its a fair trade that they up hit rate for mages, since mages can't magic crits.
Since Bloodstorm skill attacks each turn there is no good reason why mages shouldn't have a higher hit rate.
I suspect that they thought Shayd and Smoulder would be too powerful with a normal base hit rate, without, shall we say, extensive testing at higher power levels.
My suggestion would be to get rid of the miss and make it like the hit or dodge of normal attacks.