Rare armour & weapons is one of the things I miss in TW2.
Legendary items like Aerondight, Rune sihil, Moonblade & Raven's armour are barely better than the items you start with if you don't import a save. A generic Temerian sword you can buy in Flotsam is probably already better than the Rune sihil.
It messes up the lore and setting, and makes it painfully clear that the game is nothing more than a glorified action game. Want more damage? -> buy bigger sword!