Post Plant is boring to watch so i got an idea how to fix it or make it better. After the Spike is planted, ability damage should be dropped to maybe 35 - 50% so you cant run miles away after plant and do your abilities the job. This would be so good and defuse attempters could actually tank mollies and shock darts!
Edit.: Or even make it better. Imagine The Spike (in planted situation) consumes the energy slowly so your abilities get weaker and weaker. So the more the spike runs, the less damage your abilities do. This would make also sense Story wise. For the lore.