Image via Rockstar
In Grand Theft Auto V, heists are complex story missions that can net you huge amounts of loot. There are five different heists that you will need to pull off as you play through the campaign, each requiring careful preparation and execution. If you successfully complete these jobs, you can earn millions of dollars, and you can choose to replay these missions if you wish.
With all that money on the line you will want to be sure that you are earning as much cash as possible, so here is a step by step guide on how to get the highest possible share of money from each heist in GTA V. Obviously, we will be venturing into spoiler territory pretty heavily in this article.
Heist 1: The Jewel Store Job
Approach
- Option B
Crew
- Hacker – Rickie Lukens
- Gunman – Packie McCreary
- Driver – Karim Denz
Using Rickie Lukens as your hacker will give you more time in the store, allowing you to grab all the jewelry. Packie McCreary is the best option for your Gunman. He will perform the same as the others but costs less money. To unlock Packie as a heist crew member, you must complete his random event where he is robbing a store near Franklin’s house and needs a getaway driver. This random event takes place at the Dollar Pills Pharmacy in Strawberry.
Under no circumstances should you pick Norm as a Gunman, he will crash during the getaway and you will lose his part of the take. If you pick up his bag by driving over it after he’s crashed, you’ll get more money in the end, and you do want Norm to stick around for future heists. He is just not worth it if you are looking for the maximum possible share from The Jewel Store Job heist, and bringing him means he won’t be available for later heists.
Picking Karim Denz as the driver makes the chase sequence a little bit harder because you have to ride street bikes instead of dirt bikes, but it’s worth it. It doesn’t affect your take, and he is a cheaper option than Eddie Toh.
You can expect a total take of $4,946,153, with Michael’s cut coming to $1,223,073 and Franklin taking home $293,539.
Heist 2: The Merryweather Heist
Approach
- Option A or B
Crew
- No Crew options
Due to narrative reasons, this heist is botched, and there is no way to avoid it going wrong. You will simply be a slave to story progression. It’s the first time that the three main characters will all be on a heist together, and everything goes to hell. As such, play through this Heist whatever way you like and just enjoy the story.
Heist 3: The Paleto Score
Approach
- Doesn’t apply for this heist
Crew
- Gunman – Packie McCreary/Chef
For this heist, every time you or your accomplices get shot in the back, you lose money. You start with $8,016,020, and you should also be aware that there is an unavoidable loss of $20,0000 dollars during the heist. Packie McCreary and Chef are the best options to bring along for this heist. Packie will have a slight edge in stats if you brought him on the jewel store job, so if you are following this guide for all the heists, then make sure you pick him. If you bring Norm Richards or Daryl Johns, they will be hit by a police car and pinned against a wall about halfway through the mission, and you’ll be forced to leave him behind and lose a third of the money. You will want to keep Norm around for later Heists, however. This will be taken care of if you just pick Packie as your Gunman.
Your final take for The Paleto Score will boil down to how well you play, so don’t get shot in the back. You should be able to make it out with over $8 million, netting anywhere from $425,000 to $464,000 each for Trevor, Franklin, and Michael.
Heist 4: The Bureau Raid
Approach
- Option B
Crew
- Hacker – Rickie Lukens
- Gunman – Norm Richards
- Driver – Taliana Martinez/Karim Denz
Franklin is the only playable character to get paid in this Heist, so don’t worry about Michael’s cut. Rickie Lukens is fine as a Hacker. A better one means you can finish the hacking minigame faster, but this won’t actually impact your take at all. Norm Richards will be more than adequate as a Gunman, so you don’t need to spend more money on a better option.
Taliana Martinez is a cheaper option than Eddie and will perform just as well as a Driver. She can be found along the side of the freeway in the northeast area of the map, next to an overturned car. You can find her near the Great Ocean Highway around Mount Chiliad and Braddock Pass after The Jewel Store Job is complete. You will need to drive her to Sandy Shores before she dies, and this will make her available as an option during heists. If you want to maximize your take in the last two heists, then Taliana is by far the best option so make sure you unlock her before starting this heist.
Taliana will be waiting outside in an ambulance, allowing you to drive past the cops without attracting their attention. This works very well as it allows you to avoid any attention from the police. Sometimes Norm might shoot at the cops when you’re escaping in the ambulance, and you’ll gain a wanted level. It’s not a major deal, however, and you can solve it pretty easily by hiding from the cops.
Franklin should be able to earn about $240,000 on this heist, but remember, Michael won’t earn anything.
Heist 5: The Big Score
Approach
- Option B
Crew
- Driver #1 (Helicopter) – Taliana Martinez
- Driver #2 (Train) – Karim Denz
- Gunman #1 – Pick the cheapest option
- Gunman #2 – Pick the cheapest option
This is the real heist, the one that all the others have been leading to and a payday of epic proportions. You can potentially earn over $41,000,000 per character on this heist. Have Taliana pilot the chopper, as she’ll do the job just fine and won’t lead to any major issues during the heist. Karim should drive the train because if he flies the helicopter he will crash it. For the Gunmen, just go with the cheapest options, as they cannot mess anything up or cost you any money by getting caught or killed.
Option A will earn you roughly $6,000,000 less per character, so it’s definitely best to take Option B if you are looking to make the maximum possible share from this heist.
While there will be some variance in how much money you earn based on performance, the above options will set you up to earn the best possible sum from each heist. After that, it all boils down to how well you play through the missions, so don’t be afraid to just replay them if something goes very wrong.
