Greetings,
As a beginner I am testing out multiple workflows around 3ds max and unreal, based on your experience is it better to import lights from 3ds max via datasmith plugin or is it better to do lighting from scratch in UE5, Thank you in advance.
Not an expert but I would say Datasmith will try to carry most information from 3dsMax to UE, including lights: How Datasmith Translates 3ds Max Content for Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.1 Documentation
Therefore I would use that, and get a scene that is already nicely looking and close to 3dsMax in UE. Then if you find that it is not to your liking you already have lights and some of their properties that you can use as references to replace to more custom lighting.