Decided to follow up on a hunch that Shadow Beasts really don't pay out as much as I think they should, and so went and did some number crunching. I compared them with Lanky Grey Lach's as they're similar in drops, i.e. gems, coins, boxes and skinnable. Here's what I cam out with, (copper Kronars, unless stated otherwise):
Lanky Grey Lach:
Total Killed: 360
Average Skin Worth (perfectly arranged and skinned): 535
Box Drop Probability 33.89%
Average Total Worth [components, gems, coins and sold materials (bars and nuggets)]: 2548
Shadow Beast:
Total killed: 1023
Average Skin Worth (perfectly arranged and skinned): 901
Box Drop Probability: 9.38%
Average Total Worth [components, gems, coins and sold materials (bars and nuggets)]: 2526
And just as I thought, a creature similar to Shadow Beasts, but with a cap 100-150 ranks lower than where Shadow Beasts start, has the same payout per creature, primarily because of the boxes dropped. Hence a request to have the Shadow Beast box drop probability pushed up.
NOTE: I stopped at 360 with the Lachs because I had already required 122 over two hunting trips, vs the several trips of Shadow Beasts for only 96, which I felt was enough to make my point.
