Hi _tsidewinder_ ... allthumbs said it well.
I think that he ultimate goal when improvising is to create pleasing melody, and pleasing melody follows the changes. The easiest way to follow the changes is to track chord tones since they are the chords deconstructed. Certain genres make it easy to stick to one little bunch of notes and use them throughout the whole tune but if you want to feel confident that you'll be able to play over any tune, then you'll need to know the chord structure and create your lines accordingly.
I will always recommend that you start with chord tones and work your way out to scales rather than the other way around, but whatever apporach you choose, you're going to need to know where ALL those notes are and what they sound like in the context of the moment. I like the chord tone approach because it sets up a heirarchy in my brain that I find useful: chord tones are the boss notes; the other scale notes are subsidiary, they can connect chord tones; the few chromatic notes that are left over are last, they can connect everything.
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