Do you theorycraft or do you heed others' advice?

I've been playing with various skill builds in ArcheAge lately, and I think I've narrowed down one, maybe two, that I'm going to play for the duration. For the first time in a long time, I haven't looked at forum discussions or heeded flavor-of-the-month advice and am opting instead to test things out and arrive at some sort of personal happy medium between PvE viability, PvP survivability, and looking badass in my armor.

What about you, Massively readers? Do you do your own class or skill testing in your favorite game, or do you make use of theorycrafters and their research?

TH

I tend to do both, might look up things and why people think its good but then I test it and see how its for me. If I got one skill that I really like and is good in my hands I'll go with that.

I almost always like to keep myself in the dark when it comes to things like this. I feel that as soon as I read what a popular build is, or what skills dominate another, my naive view is forever shattered and I feel bad for liking the things that I do. So I prefer to just do my own thing completely based on what I feel good playing with, what looks aesthetically pleasing to me, and what keeps me immersed in the game play.

knowing the most popular builds might be good so you could theorycraft and test what counters it since we all know the gimps are gonna roll the most popular shit.

I use the info to make my build counter the metas usually...