I think it was more things like changes to loot generation, enchantments, enemy placement, quest reward changes, etc, that caused a problem trying to maintain saved game compatibility.
In D2:ED, for the dragon form I removed all equipment except for the Bone Dragon Cuirass (+40% hit points) and Bone Dragon Leggings (+40% offense) once I could max Firebreath, Fire Sphere, Dragon Spirit and Dragon Burst without the need for equipment spell bonuses. I didn't use Dragon Burst that much (came in handy a couple times), and never tried the summon, shield or polymorph spells.
