Disclaimer: I like to read in-depth guides of what an ability does before using it but I feel following FAQs too closely steal half of the fun of games which allow you to make your own build. Nothing beats hands-on experience and something which sounds amazing (or sucks) on paper may surprise me in-game.

And of course, for games which don't allow respec, I can totally understand someone desire to "not screw up" before commiting to a certain path.