Heists have been one of the activities in the Grand Theft Auto games since the very beginning of the series.
They usually bring our protagonists additional, often significant profits. In some instalments, they were assigned by certain NPCs, or we had the opportunity to join them.
In GTA Online, which is still a lively and popular multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto V (where there were quite a lot of them), they remain a permanent part of the gameplay.
Initially, in GTA Online, players could mainly carry out simple robberies and small raids on stores.
However, with the 2015 Heists DLC release, much more complex but also profitable missions for players were introduced, resembling the immersive heist from the base game.
Subsequent updates brought even more exciting heist scenarios!
Today, we’ll present you with some key information on how to prepare for heists, what conditions need to be met to participate, how to carry them out successfully, and how much you can earn in every one of them. Here’s a quick guide and tutorial on heists in GTA Online!
Heist Basics
You’ve probably seen gangster movies and TV shows many times – so you know that before every heist, the team involved had to prepare in advance.
They needed to arrange a safe hideout, plan the action, figure out how to unload the stolen goods, and assemble a crew with a trusted driver in charge. It’s no different in GTA Online!
To organize a heist, you first have to meet a few essential conditions. The first is to have a minimum rank of 12. You also need to own a high-end apartment.
There are 35 of them available in the game, with prices ranging from $200,000 to $1.1 million, so everyone can find and buy something suitable. Each apartment serves not only as a comfortable place to live but also as a perfect base for planning heists, already equipped with a planning room and a special board on which you can set up the whole mission.
To carry out a heist, you also need the financial resources to cover preparation costs and payouts for the team members, who will be compensated after each stage of the heist. As the organizer, you won’t be given any money during the heist, but as the Heist Leader, you’ll be able to decide on the payout split — determining who gets how much at the end of the mission.
Most heists also require assembling a two to four-person team, so you need to find three (or one) other willing players. To participate in a heist as a crew member, you only need to have rank 01 and have completed the GTA Online tutorial (which includes a simple heist).
Classic Heists
As we mentioned earlier, with the introduction of the Heists DLC, GTA Online players gained the opportunity to take part in various complex heist-related missions.
Previously, they could only occasionally rob stores, as in the tutorial, where, with a weapon in hand, players had to rob a nearby grocery store.
Of course, for these small robberies, you could expect a reward of a few to tens of thousands of dollars, but it was nothing compared to the sums you could earn by participating in full-scale heists!
The first step to joining heist missions is to get in touch with Lester Crest, who contacts players who are meeting the heist organization requirements (having rank 12 and an apartment).
After accepting the job, you need to go to Lester’s garment factory, where you’ll learn the details of the first mission, The Fleeca Job, in which Lester will act as the Heist Leader and sponsor the operation. You can organize the next heists all by yourself.
With this update, players can participate in up to five heists:
- The Fleeca Job
- The Prison Break
- The Humane Labs Raid
- Series A Funding
- The Pacific Standard
At first, they must be played in sequence because completing The Fleeca Job unlocks the ability to participate in The Prison Break, which, once completed, unlocks The Humane Labs Raid, and so on.
Does five heists sound like too few to you? Well, consider that each one can be played multiple times (after completing a heist, you can replay it for any number of times) at different difficulty levels and by making different decisions, with a different crew, choosing different weapons, plan etc.
Additionally, some heists can be played both solo, in a pair and in a group of up to four people. All of this creates many more possible scenarios! To repeat a heist, all you need to do is to contact Lester and re-play a heist.
What are the costs and potential earnings for each of these base heists?
| Heist | Number of players | Setup cost | Potential take (easy mode) | Potential take (normal mode) | Potential take (hard mode) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Fleeca Job | 2 | $11,500 | $100,625 | $201,250 | $250,250 |
| The Prison Break | 4 | $25,000 | $350,000 | $700,000 | $875,000 |
| The Humane Labs Raid | 4 | $25,000 | $472,500 | $945,000 | $1,181,500 |
| Series A Funding | 4 | $25,000 | $353,500 | $707,000 | $883,750 |
| The Pacific Standard | 4 | $25,000 | $750,000 | $1,500,000 | $1,875,000 |
Aside from the earnings from the stolen cash, participating in heists and successfully completing them (especially fulfilling a series of challenges during the missions) allows you to earn bonuses of up to $10,000,000, as well as an elite T-shirt for your character.
The Doomsday Heist
With the release of The Doomsday Heist expansion in 2017, three new heists were added to the list. However, to participate in these operations, you must first become the CEO/VIP of an organization or the president of a Motorcycle Club and purchase a facility.
A new feature introduced in this expansion was the “Prep Jobs” – short setup missions in Freemode, completing which unlocks the main heists. The three heists included in this DLC are:
- The Data Breaches
- The Bogdan Problem
- The Doomsday Scenario
How many players are needed for each of them? What are the setup costs and potential intake? Here are the details:
| Heist | Number of players | Setup cost | Potential take (easy mode) | Potential take (normal mode) | Potential take (hard mode) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Data Breaches | 2-4 | $25,000 | - | $975,000 | $1,218,750 |
| The Bogdan Problem | 2-4 | $25,000 | - | $1,425,000 | 1,781,250 |
| The Doomsday Scenario | 2-4 | $25,000 | - | $1,800,000 | $2,250,000 |
Here, too, completing the elite challenges could earn bonuses of up to $3,750,000.
The Diamond Casino Heist
In 2019, another update called The Diamond Casino Heist was released, adding new content (like characters, guns, cars, missions) to the game, including the eponymous heist.
To participate in this heist, just like in the previous one, your character must be a CEO/VIP/President of a Motorcycle Club, and in addition, own an Arcade.
In this update, players also need to complete Prep Jobs first. Additionally, the heist can be approached in one of three ways:
- Silent & Sneaky
- Aggressive
- The Big Con
Moreover, before executing the heist, you must find out what the casino vaults contain. The loot can be in the form of cash, gold, artwork, or diamonds. What are the requirements defined by the vault’s contents, and what are the heist’s setup costs and potential earnings?
| Target | Number of players | Setup cost | Potential take (easy mode) | Potential take (normal mode) | Potential take (hard mode) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | 2-4 | $25,000 | - | $2,115,000 | $2,326,500 |
| Artwork | 2-4 | $25,000 | - | $2,350,000 | $2,585,000 |
| Gold | 2-4 | $25,000 | - | $2,585,000 | $2,843,500 |
| Diamonds | 2-4 | $25,000 | - | $3,290,000 | $3,619,000 |
Here, too, completing additional challenges comes with extra rewards ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.
The Cayo Perico Heist
The Cayo Perico Heist DLC was released in 2020, introducing another heist for players to participate in. The requirements for this mission include acquiring important information for Miguel Madrazo from Juan Strickler (the main game’s antagonist).
As usual, you must also be a VIP/CEO/MC President and… purchase a submarine, as well as gain access to Cayo Perico. Once there, your character uncovers various mysterious intrigues, which ultimately lead to the main quest — the heist.
As with The Diamond Casino Heist, there are several Prep Jobs during which, similarly, you determine what the heist’s target is. The possible targets are:
- Sinsimito Tequila
- Ruby Necklace
- Bearer Bonds
- Madrazo Files
- Pink Diamond
- Panther Statue
Additionally, you can steal one of several extra items:
- Artwork
- Weed
- Cocaine
- Cash
- Gold
The requirements, costs, and potential earnings for each of these targets are as follows:
| Target | Number of players | Setup cost | Potential take (easy mode) | Potential take (normal mode) | Potential take (hard mode) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinsimito Tequila | 1-4 | $100,000 | - | $630,000 | $693,000 |
| Ruby Necklace | 1-4 | $100,000 | - | $700,000 | $770,000 |
| Bearer Bonds | 1-4 | $100,000 | - | $700,000 | $847,000 |
| Madrazo Files | 1-4 | - | - | $1,100,000 | - |
| Pink Diamond | 1-4 | $100,000 | - | $1,300,000 | $1,430,000 |
| Panther Statue | 1-4 | $100,000 | - | $1,900,000 | $2,090,000 |
Additionally, from the extra loot (weed, cocaine, etc.), you can earn up to $500,000 more.
| Target | Take (any difficulty) | Maximum numbers of secondary targets you can take |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | $328,584 - $333,192 per Gold bar stash | 1.5 ($492,876 - $499,788 total) |
| Cocaine | $198,000 - $202,500 per Cocaine brick stash | 2 ($396,000 - $405,000 total) |
| Artwork | $157,000 - $180,000 per Painting | 2 ($314,000 - $360,000 total) |
| Weed | $130,500 - $135,000 per Weed brick stash | 2.66 ($347,130 - $359,100 total) |
| Cash | $78,750-$83,250 per Cash stack stash | 4 ($315,000 - $333,000 total) |
Here, completing additional challenges also provides bonuses of up to $100,000.
Tips for Heist Success
As mentioned earlier, every heist requires proper preparation — both in planning actions and setting the stage for the entire operation. However, there are also a few universal tips that will ensure nearly every heist runs smoothly, and you achieve success. What should you keep in mind?
- Rank up – Although you only need rank 12 to organize heists (or rank 01 to participate), it’s worth levelling up your character even further. With each rank, your character’s abilities improve, their ammo capacity increases, and you gain access to better weapons and upgrades. This makes it much easier to engage in these activities and successfully complete them.
- Collect money – Even though the heist setup cost, especially for the basic heist missions, isn’t too high, extra cash always comes in handy. You can always use some extra cash for retrying a failed heist, or you can simply use it to…
- Upgrade your arsenal – Remember, the enemies you encounter during heist activities are much tougher, more difficult, and better equipped than those in regular missions. So before organizing heists, make sure to upgrade your weapons and gear as much as possible (e.g., at AmmuNation or Los Santos Customs).
- Practice missions – Before jumping into a heist, practice potential scenarios in slightly easier circumstances. The game offers plenty of missions and contracts that will give you a taste of what a real heist is and prepare you for various challenges. Once you master the easier missions, the heist will be a breeze. Missions that can help you develop the necessary skills include: Crime Scenester, Pickup Sticks, Death From Above, The Los Santos Connection, and Stocks and Scares, among many others. Through these missions, you’ll also learn to…
- Communicate effectively – Almost every heist requires close collaboration between several team members. To carry out heists successfully, you must learn to work and communicate effectively with your team. The missions mentioned above are excellent practice for this!
FAQ Section
Which heist is the most profitable?
The most profitable heist is The Pacific Standard (from the Heists DLC), with potential earnings of $1,875,000. When completed flawlessly with a series of challenges, it can earn you over $11,000,000 both in earned take and bonus rewards. However, without considering bonuses, the most profitable scenario is to steal diamonds in The Diamond Casino Heist, which can bring you a reward of $3,619,000.
Can you do heists solo?
Most of the heists introduced in The Cayo Perico Heist DLC can be done solo, but the majority of heists in the whole game require at least two players.
What is the best heist for beginners?
Beginners should start with the heists introduced in the Heists DLC from 2015. These are less demanding compared to those from later DLCs, their setup cost is relatively cheap, and the rewards are satisfying. They can also be repeated all over again.
How do you unlock new heists?
Each heist from the GTA Online expansions has its own requirements for unlocking. Sporadically, all you need is rank 12 and some cash to start; other times, you need to hold a certain position in an organization or own one. Only after meeting these conditions will you gain access to new heists.
Conclusion
Heists in GTA Online offer an exciting form of entertainment. These missions are quite challenging, requiring planning and meeting specific conditions, but they are highly satisfying. You can enjoy these heists with a group of friends and, after the job is done, reap significant financial rewards. It’s definitely worth taking on these activities, but remember to prepare properly to ensure your success!