GTA V's Heists: The Complete Crew Guide
Each GTA V heist gives you crew slots — gunmen, drivers, hackers. Here's who to hire for each heist, what they cost, and which crew composition pays out the most.
Six major heists structure GTA V's campaign — the Jewel Store Job, the Merryweather Heist, the Paleto Score, the Bureau Raid, the Big Score, plus the prologue's North Yankton bank job. Each heist gives the player crew slots (gunmen, drivers, hackers) with hireable NPCs. Better-skilled crew take a bigger cut but make fewer mistakes; cheaper crew save money but cause heist complications.
Below: the complete crew guide. Who to hire for each heist, what they cost, and which composition pays out the most.
How crew costs work
Crew members take a percentage cut of the heist's payout. A high-skill gunman might take 14%; a low-skill gunman might take 6%. The math:
- High-skill crew → less mistake / damage during heist → higher base payout, but higher cut
- Low-skill crew → more mistakes → lower base payout, but lower cut
For most heists, the mid-skill crew is the sweet spot — base payout is preserved, cut is moderate, complications are manageable.
There's also a mid-game effect: low-skill crew members level up when used in earlier heists. A low-skill gunman who survives the Jewel Store Job becomes a higher-skill gunman for the Big Score.
Heist 1: Jewel Store Job (Lester Crest)
Two approaches: Smart (loud entry with smoke grenades) or Loud (kick-the-door hostile entry).
Crew slots needed:
- 1 Gunman
- 1 Driver
Recommended crew:
- Smart approach: Karim Denz (driver) — cheap, low complication risk; Packie McReary or Norm Richards (gunman) — Packie returns from GTA IV
- Loud approach: Eddie Toh (driver) — high skill, big cut but reliable; Norm Richards (gunman) — cheap
Best ROI: Smart approach with Karim Denz + Norm Richards. Mid-skill, mid-cut, low complication.
Heist 2: Merryweather Heist (Trevor Philips)
The submarine torpedo retrieval mission. Two approaches: Offshore or Freighter.
Crew slots: Gunman, Driver
The Merryweather Heist does not pay out cash in any approach (a story decision Trevor makes mid-mission). Crew choice affects mission completion difficulty but not payout.
Recommended: any low-skill crew. The lack of payout means you don't want to invest in expensive specialists.
Heist 3: Paleto Score (Trevor Philips, Michael De Santa)
The Paleto Bay bank mission. Single approach: heavy entry with military-grade armor and drilling tools.
Crew slots: 2 Gunmen, 1 Driver (the heist features all 3 protagonists in the actual job)
Recommended:
- Gunman 1: Norm Richards (cheap, levelled up from JSJ if used previously)
- Gunman 2: Daryl Johns or Hugh Welsh (mid-skill, mid-cut)
- Driver: Taliana Martinez (the wounded driver Trevor rescues; best driver in the game at full skill, low complication risk)
Taliana is unlocked via a side mission ("Random Encounter — Taliana Martinez") in Blaine County. Free her early; she becomes the optimal heist driver for every subsequent heist.
Heist 4: Bureau Raid (Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton)
The FIB office infiltration. Two approaches: Roof Entry (flying in via helicopter) or Fire Crew (entering as firefighters).
Crew slots: 2 Gunmen, 1 Hacker, 1 Driver
Recommended:
- Hacker: Rickie Lukens (cheap, mid-skill); levels up if used
- Gunmen: Daryl Johns + Norm Richards
- Driver: Taliana Martinez
The Bureau Raid is one of the highest-payout single heists. Maximising payout means minimising crew cuts — go cheap on hacker and gunmen, pay full price for Taliana driver.
Heist 5: The Big Score (final heist, all 3 protagonists)
The gold-bullion truck heist. Two approaches: Subtle (sneak entry, EMP) or Obvious (loud entry with attack helicopter).
Crew slots: 2 Gunmen, 1 Hacker, 1 Driver
Recommended:
- Hacker: Paige Harris (high-skill, big cut, but reliable for the Subtle approach)
- Gunmen: Hugh Welsh + Daryl Johns + (optionally) Karl Abolaji
- Driver: Taliana Martinez
The Big Score is GTA V's biggest single payout — approximately $201 million split three ways if all approaches are optimised. With optimal crew, each protagonist nets roughly $41 million.
Crew member career paths
Levelling up via the campaign:
- Norm Richards (gunman) — starts low-skill, levels through JSJ → Bureau Raid
- Karim Denz (driver) — mid-skill from start; useful through Bureau Raid
- Taliana Martinez (driver) — high-skill from rescue; optimal for Bureau Raid + Big Score
- Rickie Lukens (hacker) — starts mid-skill, levels through Bureau Raid
- Paige Harris (hacker) — high-skill from start; required for Subtle Big Score
What the heist system inherited
GTA V's heist system is the direct evolution of San Andreas's Caligula's Casino arc. The crew-specialisation framework, the multi-stage planning missions, the get-away-vehicle escape sequence — all trace lineage to SA.
GTA Online's heists (the Pacific Standard Heist, the Cayo Perico Heist, the Diamond Casino Heist) are direct descendants of GTA V's framework. The crew-skill / crew-cut dynamic returns in Online's "ride-or-die" mechanic for crew member bonuses.
For per-mission detail on each GTA V heist, see the GTA V missions database. For the broader Online heist context, see GTA Online: Every Heist in Order.
