Slow Down Effect

For a similar debuff, see Stun Effect.

The Slow down effect is a debuff that causes a player to have its speed reduced. This debuff is caused by various weapons, and when hit by it, it will slow you down depending on what kind of weapon you use.

Proton Gun and Zap Gun
The Proton Gun and the Zap Gun can slow down the targeted user by 50%. The effect only last for a second when first hit, but the effect will continue when you keep firing at the player. This makes it useful against players who try to get close to you (Like shotgun users), as it takes time for them to reach you while under the effect. It's very effective if you keep your distance away from them while you move backwards due to the weapons' slightly weak damage per shot.

Stake Launcher and Dual Stake Launcher
The Stake Launcher, along with its dual counterpart the Dual Stake Launcher, can slow down even more than the weapons above. When its an enemy, it will almost stop them completely which is the equivalent as the stun effect but without the disability to use a weapon or gadget. This means that you are likely to get killed by a shotgun user at close quarters, but however, they will be dead anyway if you have the Death From Below skill (Unless they wore the Spec Ops Boots).

Avoiding this debuff
The slow down effect is completely ignored by the Ghostbusters Pants, which is useful if you don't like to be annoyed by the weapons. However, it does not ignore the stakes of Stake Launchers. Though, they can be dodged easily at medium-long range, but to avoid the stakes at close range, you need to strafe left to right until you killed the Stake Launcher user (Unless you are really close, there is little chance that you will survive the barrage of stakes).

Trivia

 * The Proton Gun is the first weapon to cause the slow down effect.