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Cartesian Coordinate

Stats

Lore

All was quiet in the Gulch, save for the occasional chirp of birds and the gentle trickle of the river. It might've been peaceful, Chalco Yong thought as she crept along the bank, if it wasn't so damn eerie. Where were the Cabal and their noisome injection rigs? Where were the thundering Pike gangs? Evidently taking the day off, just when it was most inconvenient.

The Hidden agent crouched, running her hand over the smooth stones cluttering the shore. She was hoping to have good news for her next report. Ikora looked so tired at their last check-in.

No wonder. Even before the Pyramids arrived, it felt like their enemies were multiplying at the same rate their allies were decreasing. Now, with four celestial bodies stolen out of the sky, that trend seemed to be accelerating.

And here she was, following a tenuous lead on the whereabouts of the infamous Light Kell into a dead zone.

She briefly considered turning her radio on and checking in, but then she saw it: the ideal skipping stone, palm shaped and perfectly worn. She picked it up, and with a well-timed flick, sent it spinning across the water. The mirror image of blue sky and pine tree tops rippled once, twice, six times before gravity outweighed momentum, pulling the stone beneath the surface.

Suddenly, a frenetic rustling broke out all around her. The trees quivered as hundreds of birds burst forth, shrieking in alarm as they circled in the sky. Chalco whipped around, rifle at the ready, but there was no one. She slowed her breathing, ears open for the telltale whine of speeding Pikes.

The wispy hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention as the air crackled with electricity. A great rumbling threw Chalco off her feet. She rolled as she hit the ground. The second shockwave arrived while she was facedown—a louder and more definitive thud that caused the rocks to jump up and fall back down with a clatter.

Silence returned. When she lifted her head, all seemed as it had moments ago…

…except for the once-clear sky, now streaked with aurorae of many colors.

Chalco leapt up and ran for the ravine wall. She scaled it, then the nearest pine in a matter of seconds. A risky move considering the possibility of aftershock, but she needed height.

It wasn't until she reached the wavery top branches that she saw it. Cresting over the tree line was the Shard of the Traveler, bleeding polychrome rays. Chalco turned her gaze up, following the arc into the stratosphere. What was happening?

Keeping her eyes fixed on the sky, she flipped on her radio. Immediately, Eris Morn's voice echoed over the Vanguard's public frequency: "This will not be the end. It will be an escalation."

A flash, piercing in its brilliance, lit up the southeastern sky. Chalco braced herself against the tree, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them, the sky had returned to clear blue and the Shard had returned to its dim, jagged state.

"Huh," she said aloud to no one.

You can get Carrtesian Coordinate through world drops in basically any activity in Destiny 2. Whenever a normal engram drops on the ground there’s a small chance it can be a Cartesian Coordinate. There’s also a chance that it can be a reward via Pinnacle, Powerful, or Prime Engrams. However, this is leaving a lot up to chance and isn’t a consistent way to actually acquire multiple rolls of the Cartesian Coordinate. With that in mind, you can also just turn in Gunsmith Materials to Banshee at The Tower. This vendor will give you a random world pool weapon for 100 Gunsmith Materials, which isn’t a bad deal if you have a lot weighing down your virtual pockets.

Cartesian Coordinate God Rolls

Cartesian Coordinate PVE God Roll

  • Red Dot Micro
  • Liquid Coils or Accelerated Coils
  • Feeding Frenzy or Lead From Gold
  • Vorpal Weapon

When it comes to the Cartesian Coordinate, your entire “god roll” really just depends on what you get in the magazine and final perk slots. In the first slot, all of the sights are fine, but the best of the bunch is Red Dot Micro since it gives us the most range and a nice amount of handling. You can go with the Cleanshot IS, but this has a slightly reduced range bonus. In the magazine, you either want Liquid Coils or Accelerated Coils. Not this might seem odd since the latter increases your damage and the latter reduces it, but hear me out.

If you prefer sheer stopping power at the cost of a lengthier charge time then you absolutely want Liquid Coils. Inversely, Accelerated Coils reduces our damage but we have a faster charge time, which lets us fire more rounds into a target. You’ll use this for damaging static bosses where you have a brief window to shoot them before an invulnerability phase triggers. Both are terrific, so it really comes down to what you, the player, prefer in a fusion rifle and what you are going to use it for.

In the primary perk slots, I recommend either Feeding Frenzy or Lead From Gold. Feeding Frenzy is nice for when you’re dealing with rank and file enemies since you can swiftly reload your weapon. If you are more concerned about ammo, Lead From Gold is especially good in this meta since players are running either two fusion rifles or a linear fusion rifle in the Heavy slot. Of course, the most important perk is Vorpal Weapon, as this allows us to utterly shred through enemies thanks to the Particle Deconstruction mod. This is the perk you absolutely need on this firearm — especially if you plan to use it during high Power endgame content.

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Cartesian Coordinate PVP God Roll

  • Red Dot Micro
  • Liquid Coils
  • Under Pressure
  • High Impact Reserves or Backup Plan

While I wouldn’t entirely recommend using the Cartesian Coordinate in the Crucible, you can get a pretty decent roll. In the sight slot, the Red Dot Micro is your go-to choice since it gives us the biggest range boost which is key for fusion rifles. We are also looking for Liquid Coils to give us a nice damage boost, ensuring we will kill anyone we hit with our burst. This does come at the cost of the charge time, so keep them in mind if you plan on using this weapon. Unless you’re running Backup Plan, you will rarely win a duel with someone if they run up on you with a shotgun.

In the primary perk slots, you’ll want Under Pressure since we naturally start out with a low magazine anyway. The stability and accuracy bonuses are terrific for this weapon, allowing us to take down enemies that are a couple of meters away. As for your secondary perk, you’ll either want High-Impact Reserves for that bonus damage or Backup Plan for that quick charge time when you swap to the gun. Personally, I like the High-Impact Reserves since it combos nicely with Under Pressure and helps us secure the kill.

About the Author

Collin MacGregor

Collin MacGregor is the Guide Staff Writer at Fanbyte. He's also the person who willingly plays the support class (you're welcome) and continues to hold out for an Ape Escape remake.

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Sight Slot

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Red Dot Micro

Agile sight. Short zoom. • Increases range • Increases handling speed

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Red Dot 2 MOA

Snapshot sight. Short zoom. • Slightly increases range • Increases handling speed

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Hitmark IS

Agile sight. Short zoom. • Greatly increases handling speed • Slightly increases range

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Cleanshot IS

Snapshot sight. Short zoom. • Increases handling speed • Slightly increases range