| Heists | 6, all on the story path |
|---|---|
| Crew choices | The Jewel Store Job, The Paleto Score, The Bureau Raid and The Big Score |
| Best advice | Pay for skill only where it matters, and unlock the two cheap experts early |
| Achievement | Finishing every heist earns one |
The heists are the backbone of the story. For most of them you pick a plan, hire specialists who each take a percentage, and do the setup missions before the job itself. Here’s what each heist asks of you, and which choices leave you with the most money.
All heists
| Heist | Approaches | Crew to hire | Best pick |
|---|---|---|---|
 The Jewel Store Job | Smart or Loud | Driver, gunman, hacker | Smart |
 The Merryweather Heist | Freighter or Offshore | None | Either |
| Blitz Play | One plan | None | |
 The Paleto Score | One plan | Gunman | |
 The Bureau Raid | Covert or Roof | Depends on the approach | Roof |
 The Big Score | Subtle or Obvious | Depends on the approach | Obvious |
How to unlock the best cheap crew
Three of the best-value crew members don’t appear on the list until you do something first, so watch for them. All three save you real money over the game.
| Crew member | Role and cut | How to unlock |
|---|---|---|
 Patrick McReary | Good gunman, 12% | Save him at the Getaway Driver Random Event, at the drug store near Franklin’s house, any time after Pulling Favors |
 Taliana Martinez | Good driver, 5% | Help her at the Crash Rescue Random Event, on the freeway east of Paleto Bay, after Mr. Philips |
 Rickie Lukens | Poor hacker at first, 4% | He calls Michael after Friend Request, and again after The Paleto Score or The Bureau Raid if you haven’t hired him yet |
 Chef | Good gunman, 12% | He calls Trevor after Blitz Play |
Anyone who survives a heist improves for the next one and doesn’t ask for a bigger cut. So a cheap hire you use early can be as good as an expensive one later on. A crew member who dies or gets arrested costs one and a half times their cut, and they’re gone for the rest of the game.
The Jewel Store Job: best crew
Choose Smart. Knockout gas needs fewer good people, so it costs you less overall. The crew below takes 24%.
| Role | Smart (24%) | Loud (30%) |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Karim Denz, 8% | Eddie Toh, 14% |
| Gunman | Patrick McReary, 12% | Patrick McReary, 12% |
| Hacker | Rickie Lukens, 4% | Rickie Lukens, 4% |
The important job nobody mentions is who empties the display cases with Michael. A poor person here drops about a tenth of the jewels, or roughly $500,000, so the Gunman on Smart and the Driver on Loud both need to be good. If you haven’t saved Patrick yet, Gustavo Mota does the same job for 14%. Rickie only holds the alarm for 50 seconds, so you have to move fast, but using him now pays off later.
The Merryweather Heist: Freighter or Offshore?
No crew and no payout difference to worry about, as this job isn’t about money. The Freighter is a stealth swim and a firefight on a ship. The Offshore plan uses a Cargobob and a sub. Choose whichever sounds more fun. If you take Offshore, you need the extra setups, and a Submersible turns up at Sandy Shores Airfield afterward.
Blitz Play
There are no choices here. You need the Boiler Suits, Masks, Trash Truck, Tow Truck and Getaway Vehicle, then it’s a straight fight.
The Paleto Score: which gunman?
You hire one gunman, and any poor one dies in the street. Norm Richards costs the least overall, even with the penalty for his death, as long as you pick up the bag he drops. Patrick McReary or Chef survive and make the fight easier for only about 1.5% more, which is a fair trade. Don’t use Daryl Johns here, because you want him alive for later. Don’t pay for Gustavo Mota, either.
The Bureau Raid: Roof or Covert?
Choose Roof. You go in by helicopter and parachute, and no one dies even with the cheapest crew. Covert has fewer people, but a gunman dies unless you hire the two most expensive ones. The money difference is small, about $5,000 for Franklin between the two best crews, so go with the one you’d rather play.
| Role | Roof (15%) | Covert (16.5%, with a death) |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Taliana Martinez, 5% | Not needed |
| Gunman | Daryl Johns, 6% | Daryl Johns, 6%, and Hugh Welsh, 7% |
| Hacker | Rickie Lukens, 4% | Not needed |
The Big Score: Obvious or Subtle?
Choose Obvious. Each 1% of crew cut here costs about $2 million in total, or $650,000 for each character. Subtle needs another crew member, a more experienced crew, and also a $300,000 bribe, so Obvious pays out the most.
| Role | Obvious (26%) | Subtle (35%) |
|---|---|---|
| Driver 1 | Taliana Martinez, 5% | Taliana Martinez, 5% |
| Driver 2 | Karim Denz, 8% | Karim Denz, 8% |
| Gunman 1 | Hugh Welsh, 7% | Patrick McReary or Chef, 12% |
| Gunman 2 | Daryl Johns, 6% | Daryl Johns, 6% |
| Hacker | Not needed | Rickie Lukens, 4% |
Driver 1 is the job you can’t go cheap on. On Obvious they fly the helicopter through the wind farm, and a poor pilot crashes, costing you half of the gold. Driver 2 can be anyone. Keep your cheap gunmen alive in earlier heists, or you’ll be left with Karl Abolaji and an expensive gunman, which could cost you about $14 million in all.
Is the Kortz Center a heist?
Not quite. The Kortz Center is where The Wrap Up takes place, which is a shootout rather than a robbery, so it has no crew or take. People also ask about a freighter heist. That’s The Merryweather Heist, in its Freighter approach. And if you’re stuck on the getaway car, the Getaway Vehicle page explains where to park it.
