Mesa

Mesa
Size	Medium
Style	Symmetrical
Recommended Players	24
Air Vehicles	Disabled
Tech Buildings	Tiberium Silo x1
Base Defenses	GDI Advanced Guard Tower Nod Obelisk of Light Turret x2
Buildings	GDI Barracks Weapons Factory (Air) Tiberium Refinery (Air) Power Plant (Air) Nod Hand of Nod Airstrip Tiberium Refinery (Air) Power Plant (Air)

Appearance

The battlefield is set into a wide open area with a large basalt composition dividing each base, along with several other basalt masses found on the other routes. There is a large cave inside the basalt mountain, which has blue Tiberium in it.

A Tiberium Silo can be found in an alcove in the short side path of the map, and a watchtower is present on the longer side.

In-depth Analysis

Infantry paths: every base has a cave opening leading to the large cave with the blue Tiberium; from here, one can climb the ramp and reach the long vehicle path. On that path. there is a watchtower located near the green Tiberium field that is a suitable sniping spot.

Vehicle paths: Most of Mesa is accessible to vehicles. Each base has two entrances, one on the front and the other on the back. The left route (right for Nod) is a longer route to the opponent base; at the center, there will be the aforementioned watchtower and the green Tiberium field. On the other route, which is the shortest one to the opponent base, there are basalt formations for cover and the alcove with the Silo.

Both routes can access a bridge located in the large cave from the center; the bridge interconnects the two vehicle paths.

Mystery Crates: Two appear on the fields of the long route, two appear on the fields of the short route, one appears on top of the watchtower, one appears on the bridge in the cave, and the last two appear near the exit of the infantry ramps towards the long route, one per ramp.

Harvested Tiberium field: the field on the long route, near the watchtower.

Strategy

Battlefield control

Bases in Mesa do not have lots of cover, allowing long-range bombardment of the enemy base from the short vehicle path; thus is paramount to take control of that path before the opponent does. This will also allow vehicles to guard the Silo. Mobile Artilleries shine here, since they can bombard all GDI buildings from the short vehicle path. Note that the Advanced Guard Tower has increased range in this level, with its rockets reaching the sections of said path allowing it strike at the offending artilleries; therefore, it is best to seek cover behind the basalt formations while bombarding the base.

The longer route is significantly larger, and it is a perfect path for an APC rush while tanks keep the pressure from the other side. It is not advised to try to establish a strong presence on the longer route due to its size. A vehicle can be stationed on the bridge and fire in the enemy base's cave opening.

It is possible to trap the opponent in the base with vehicles from both sides and infantry patrolling the cave.

Sneaking options

Basalt formations can be found everywhere and make good hiding places; the large cave having a few of them makes it a decent path for infiltration, albeit players have to exercise caution in order to avoid Tiberium poisoning. Each base's cave entrance leads to their respective Power Plants and they are hidden from the view of automated defenses, along with some containers in the back for extra cover. It is also possible to reach the other buildings while circumventing the defenses if the infiltrator is skilled enough.

The long vehicle path has more space, some bushes, basalt formations, and some deformations in the terrain for players to hide. Upon reaching the enemy base, one can hide behind the concrete walls and wait for the best opportunity to strike.

Trivia

• In the previous versions of Mesa, the large cave was accessible for vehicles and Harvesters would gather Tiberium from there.