Grand Theft Auto V Online: How To Prepare For Heists

Grand Theft Auto Online is finally delivering on a promise Rockstar made well over a year ago. Like you guys, we’ve long been awaiting the opportunity to tear across Los Santos with a motley crew, stealing and pilfering anything we can get our grubby mitts on. So why the long delay? To be honest, it simply sounds like these heists are going to be far more in-depth and engaging than we anticipated.

“Heists were a much bigger challenge to create than we had originally anticipated,” commented Rockstar in a recent Q&A. “Early versions were simply not good enough and had to be scrapped more than once as we honed in on how we thought they should work… we, as a company, have always been about trying to make something that is good rather than hitting a date. We apologise when this gets frustrating but firmly believe that rushing out second-rate content does not do anyone any favours.”


Whether that was a dig at the less than stellar releases of Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Halo: The Master Chief Collection remains to be seen, but it does make us confident that online heists are going to live up to the immense hype. We’ve assembled these top tips to get you ready to face the action when they land in just a couple of weeks…
Rockstar is just finishing up tweaking the last few elements of GTA Online’s heists they are expected to launch any time now. So get patched, get prepared and get ready to pull off the biggest score Los Santos has ever seen.
What are online heists?
Are you serious? Where have you been for the last 12 months? Heists are the exciting new cooperative mode coming to GTA Online. The free add-on is set to build on the GTA V campaign heists to create a new gameplay experience that’s heavily focused on teamwork, where everyone must play to their individual strengths to escape with the cash. These will appear in the form of multi-tiered missions that take players from prep work to scouting out a target, a diverse range of gameplay modes to get ready and a huge finale. Each heist promises to be different to the last, especially when you factor the unpredictable human element into proceedings.

Buy a nice apartment
There’s finally a point to owning a high-end apartment! Leading an online heist requires a room to make your plans. These apartments range from$200,000 $500,000. While there are lots of options, we advise steering clear of Apartment #3 at Eclipse Towers it’s expensive and its central location means it’s heavily congested with asshole players. Try Apartment #42 at Tinsel Towers.

Get suitably levelled
The heists are designed to work with four other  GTA Online players, each level 12 or higher. It isn’t difficult to level up, though it might take some time. It’s worth the investment, mind; Rockstar has promised five unique heists at launch over 20 missions and around 20 hours of new gameplay. Put down whatever else you’re playing and start dominating online races for levels and cash.

The big finale
Once you’ve done a suitable amount of prep work, it’ll be time to pull off the big finale. One example so far involves a prison break where players assault a location from all directions to extract a VIP target requiring a pilot, demolitions nut and a hefty amount of undercover work. Interestingly, these finales won’t always be about stealing money we’ve been promised variety.

Natural born leader
Not only will you need a high-end apartment to set your reign of terror on the Los Santos elite in motion, but you’ll also need a lot of start-up money if you want to be the heist leader. While you’ll get the chance to build your crew, assign positions, pick outfits and allocate each player’s cut, you will need to personally front the costs to successfully plan and pull off a potentially very costly heist.

Know your specialisation
Are you the best driver in GTA Online, a headshot king, flying ace or the master of damage control? Finding your specialisation will make it easier to slot into a group, and make your involvement essential. While some missions will have you working as a unit, others will have you splitting off to tackle separate objectives, from stealing getaway cars to sneaking into police stations.

Get a microphone
Perhaps this should come as no surprise, but a mic is an essential accessory to the GTA Online experience. The heists have been designed for four players to work together. One player going rogue could not only kill the entire operation, but could cost the heist leader a lot of bank. Get that mic out of the box or use Kinect create an online party and start talking to your buddies in crime.

Comments