Is the PKE ever useful?

[Skinny's Books]

I like this game a good deal but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, how useless is the PKE meter?

I've been trying to "stun" ghosts with it and kill mobs but it seems like it just makes everything way more difficult and tedious. For instance, yeah I could zap a drudge but then the entire PKE is on cooldown and the drudge doesn't even die. It's far quicker and easier to just zap him with the proton pack. Same with possessed objects.

Stunning the ghost is a joke too. Every time I do, he manages to zip away before I can even get a trap out. Again, it's far easier to catch a ghost without even using the PKE for anything beyond a radar.

I really like this game but why is the PKE so damn broken? Is there something I'm missing?

[TheWorldconsumer]

You can unlock upgrades for the PKE that stuns the ghost for a longer time, but yeah- on a drudge the stun is wasted.
The blast is mostly to help you flush out the ghost if it is hiding in massive objects that take a while to destroy via your proton stream- or if you have many smaller objects in front of you and you just want to save time.
As for not having time to capture: best thow trap first, then tether or stun on top. A tether without a trap to pull the ghost into is a way to help your fellow busters get to you and help out, but if you throw trap then tether you MIGHT even get the ghost solo.
Last thing to help are your gear items and upgrades for your buster- these are your personal choice.

[WraithTDK [TBTPs!]]

Originally posted by Skinny's Comics:

Again, it's far easier to catch a ghost without even using the PKE for anything beyond a radar.

That is literally it's intended purpose.

[DeGugs]

I'm assuming you specifically mean a PKE blast. I'm curious if you've ever been on the wrong end of one because it can be extremely disorienting to a ghost. It's the only thing that can cancel any ability, including the ones that protect against tethers. Plus, if you don't have a disrupter tower in the perfect spot, it's really hard to stop ghosts from possession spamming with your tether alone, you need something to stop them from going into the next item long enough to throw your trap. Remember that throwing your trap cancels your tether, so if you want to catch a ghost on the run, your sequence better be stun, deploy trap, tether. It's also ideal when a ghost gets aggressive. If you're alone being slashed mercilessly, a blast may be your only hope of halting the ghost before they slime you.

[Skinny's Books]

Originally posted by WraithTDK TBTPs!:

Originally posted by Skinny's Comics:

Again, it's far easier to catch a ghost without even using the PKE for anything beyond a radar.

That is literally it's intended purpose.

But they're trying to put other things into it. So that's not really it's intended purpose anymore.

I liked the 2006 game where it was used to find ghosts and scan stuff into your database. It also functioned to find collectibles too.

This one is just bothersome. Don't really need it to find the ghost.