Workflow for max is pretty smooth for me, especially for how many hours I spend working in it.
Rigging, animating and custom skeletal creation takes just a few minutes for me now.
But everyone is different, and the only way to know is to try anything you can get your hands on.
If your really into Unreal character design, ask the guys who have been doing it for a couple years or more, they usually will have gone through the ups and downs and have tons of tricks to get the job done with as little stress as possible.
It's not hard to find these guys, theres a bunch who hang around in various 3d forums.