Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Thunderlance is a level 4 evocation spell that also has a lesser dispell attached to it.

In casting against opponents who also have buffs I have always gotten the message that it has never dispelled anything.

I am admittedly bad at mechanics and this is my first wizard. Is it dispelling buffs but saying it isn't? Does the dispell not work at all?

What is the best way for me to test this and report back?

easiest way to tell is to have another player help you. Have them place wards of various CL and then mark them as enemies and cast the spell at them. Do note lesser dispel is capped at +10 (iirc). So you get d20+CL (max 10) so anything with CL20 or above is not dispellable by lesser dispel. The cap on lesser dispel might only be 5 though, in which case CL15 makes one immune.

The formula is d20+CL of dispeller against CL+11 of the one being dispelled.