Scalebeasts are annoying creatures that are very difficult to hurt until they are staggered. It pays to spend some of the time you are building up a chain to have Sazh grant the party a nice mix of buffs. Once staggered, the Scalebeast becomes vulnerable to all of Vanille's Chapter 6 SaboteurAbilities: Deprotect, Deshell, and Poison. Try to inflict them quickly, then hit the Scalebeast for all you're worth. It is possible to defeat them during a single stagger period, but it takes some planning.