Depending on what type of project we are taking on, almost every time, we start with a blockout mesh. We feel that blocking out things is the best way to feel out the right scale, proportions and overall feel of the models. By blocking out shapes and sets, you can see major mistakes or parts for improvement at the very beginning. After the blackout comes high poly mesh that is kept pretty clean and with good wireframe. Depending on parts, after the high poly, the models are reused for low poly by simply reducing the polycount and cleaning up geometry.

UV maps are also made in Blender. We use a really powerful plugin TexTools. After the model is done we separate it to avoid bugs in the bake.

We bake maps in Substance Painter or Marmoset viewer. A few years back, when Xnormal was a thing, map baking was such an unpleasant part of the process. Both Marmoset and Substance Painter give much better results much faster.