How do you improvise you best riffs and runs under pressure?

Sambostar

To the more sound and tone orientated then analytical and disciplined amongst us, as I see it there are three approaches:

Up and down the board usually with two or three strings

Repeating over octaves over 3 octaves usually

Staying in a single position but trying to invent new muscle memory

I think I do a bit of each but definitely use 1 and 2 mostly, with a little bit of 3 to create the best special sounding riffs and runs and cut new ground.  I do know my modes and scales and stuff but I find navigation, once I have a special sounding groups of notes or riffs I have created, or riffs incorporating semi tone bends are way easier to extend, string out and build on using methods 1 and 2 as opposed to staying in a single position.

Is this the common way?