Hey all, 
 
I just finished playing through Witcher 1 last night and i was wondering if i should use the import save feature of Witcher 2? I've heard it makes the first chunk of the game a lot easier since i'll be starting with my swords from the first game. I don't really want to make it too easy; no challenge no fun. 
 
My main question is will it affect the storyline much? Or will there just be vague references to your deeds in the first game? What's the extent of how it changes the storyline, if at all? 
 
Thanks!

There will be references - if you sided with the Order or the Scoia'tel, some paths and parts will have some bonuses, you'll get a letter from Thaler if he's alive, etc.. It's nothing THAT major, though your decision to fight the King of the Wild Hunt might impact that plot.

In terms of equipment - not really. Raven's Armor is better than your starting jacket, but if you patch the game you will get DLC armor pieces and the Blue Stripe jacket you get will be your main piece up until the half of Chapter One. The swords also aren't amazing, the only significantly powerful imported sword would be the Moonblade, since Aerondight is only slightly more powerful than a regular silver sword and you'll quickly find better steel ones than the Gvalchir or D'yaebl.

So yeah, it's worth it, since the references spice up conversations and the imported gear isn't gamebreaking. DLC armor, on the other hand, can be pretty powerful - the pants will stay on your ass for half the game, for real.

Still, you will get your ass kicked whatever you have as your gear at the beginning. The learning curve reminds me of Gothic I and II, you will have to be very cautious until the end of Chapter I.

Yea do it, no reason not to.
It won't affect the story much, but there are some references.
The extra items, don't make that huge a difference.

If you import you get some better weapons and gear.  They are only a small boost over the normal starting weapons in the Witcher 2 I wouldn't worry about it making the game easier.  The Raven armor is good for most of the first act though, then you can replace it with the Kayren Armor late in that act.

Cool i think i'll import my save then :D thanks

You should definitely import. The Raven Armor (assuming you've acquired it) is just so epic. Then again, every armor in The Witcher 2 is amazing.
 
The story doesn't have that much of an impact, but you will hear of characters from the first game, and apparently even see one (I did not, since I had to cut Siegfried down in the first game). If you import, you will realize what has been affected and what not, and it just adds to the better experience.

I would. Maybe it will make the very start a bit easier (I imported, which is perhaps why I didn't understand why people were having so much trouble at the start), but I'd just consider that the intro area and use it to get used to the combat. I'm pretty sure the import gear didn't stay particularly overpowered for very long. On normal there are only a handful of tricky fights throughout the game anyway - most of it gets significantly easier as you go along.

I only noticed a couple of decisions carrying over from the first game but they seemed reasonably significant (I played it 4 years ago though, so you may notice more). The impacts of your decisions even within the game can be quite subtle though - it's not always obvious how different things could have been while you're playing. I had no idea how radically different that game could play out until I was reading about it after I'd finished the game; it's impressive stuff.