GTA Online Doomsday Heist Act 3 Guide: Setups & Payout
Doomsday Heist Act 3 (The Doomsday Scenario) explained: all five setups, the Volatol jet run, the jetpack finale, and the full GTA Online payout.
The Doomsday Heist Act 3 is the final chapter of GTA Online's biggest cooperative heist, and it ends the fight against rogue AI Cliffford with a Volatol bombing run and a jetpack chase. This Doomsday Scenario guide walks through all five setups, the finale's three big phases, and the exact payout so you know what you are working toward. The Doomsday Heist launched on December 12, 2017, and Act 3 remains one of the most lucrative ways to earn money in GTA Online.
How to start Doomsday Heist Act 3
You need to own a Facility and have already cleared Act 1 (The Data Breaches) and Act 2 (The Bogdan Problem). The Facility is the property that hosts the planning board, so there is no separate Act 3 building to buy. Start the heist from your Facility's command center, where the host pays the $25,000 setup cost up front to unlock the prep work. (The Criminal Enterprises update dropped every heist setup fee to that flat rate, down from the original $100,000-plus.)
Act 3 needs two to four players. Some setups can be cleared solo with effort, but the Air Defenses run and the finale are far smoother with at least one partner, since the hardest sections split into a pilot role and a gunner role.
The five Doomsday Scenario setups
Act 3 has five setup missions that unlock equipment and intel for the finale. They are:
- Rescue Agent 14 - extract Agent 14 from an ambush, often using the Akula stealth helicopter.
- Escort ULP - use the Chernobog missile truck to shield ULP (an undercover operative) from waves of pursuing choppers as he escapes his captors.
- Barrage - secure the HVY Barrage, a four-seat weaponized ATV (buggy) you can choose to bring into the finale.
- Khanjali - steal the TM-02 Khanjali tank, the alternate heavy vehicle for the finale opener.
- Air Defenses - the big one, covered below.
You only deploy one of the two vehicles in the finale, but completing both the Barrage and Khanjali setups is required. Bringing the Barrage into the finale pays a $100,000 bonus, while bringing the Khanjali pays a $50,000 bonus. The Barrage is faster and the larger bonus makes it the popular pick, though the Khanjali tank trades speed for heavy armor.
Air Defenses: the Volatol jet run
Air Defenses is the standout setup and the closest thing Act 3 has to a finale rehearsal. Your team takes the Volatol, a heavy bomber jet, from Sandy Shores Airfield and flies it to Mount Chiliad to wipe out the area's surface-to-air missile network.
The mission tasks you with destroying 12 SAM turrets scattered across the mountain. One player flies while another opens the bomb bay doors and works the turrets and carpet bombs. The Volatol is fitted with stealth tech, so the SAM sites cannot lock onto you directly, but you still have to watch for Buzzard attack choppers and, once roughly half the turrets are down, a pair of V-65 Molotok jets that scramble to intercept. Clear all 12 sites and the setup is done.
The Doomsday Scenario finale
The finale sends your crew to storm a missile launch base, stop a warhead from firing, and end Cliffford and Avon Hertz for good. Avon is the antagonist who built the Cliffford neural network, and he is voiced by Sean McGrath. The mission breaks into three broad phases.
- Phase 1: Storm the base. You deploy your chosen vehicle (Barrage or Khanjali) and punch through the tunnel entrance, clearing waves of Avon's mercenaries and destroying the enemy supplies to reach the control center.
- Phase 2: Kill Cliffford. Inside, defend a teammate while they hack the server, then head upstairs to the Orbital Cannon controls. From there you fire the cannon to destroy four mobile cloud servers (disguised as Brickade trucks) scattered around the state. Knocking out all four shuts Cliffford down for good. This is where coordination matters most, so assign who mans the cannon and who covers.
- Phase 3: The jetpack chase. With Cliffford gone, the crew pushes to the missile silo, where Avon escapes in a Thruster jetpack. You mount Thrusters of your own to give chase. Use the homing missiles to clear any helicopters screening him, then lock on and finish Avon to complete the heist. Once he is down, deliver the Thruster to the Observatory.
If you have never flown the Thruster before, it handles like a slow, hovering aircraft. Lead your missile locks and keep moving, because standing still makes you an easy target during the final dogfight.
For more GTA Online heist and vehicle reference, see our GTA Online hub, and you can browse mission visuals on the GTA Online screenshots page.
Doomsday Heist Act 3 payout
The Doomsday Scenario pays the most of any Act in the heist. Against the $25,000 setup cost, the finale rewards:
- Normal mode: $1,800,000
- Hard mode: $2,250,000
On top of that, completing the finale's objectives in a single run without dying or restarting earns the Elite Challenge bonus of $50,000. Add the vehicle bonus (up to $100,000 for choosing the Barrage), and a clean hard-mode run can clear roughly $2.4 million in gross rewards before the host splits the cut among the crew. The host sets the payout percentages, so agree on the share split before you launch the finale.
Tips for a clean Act 3 run
- Run a full crew. The finale's hack-and-defend phase is hard to babysit solo, and a partner on the Volatol turret makes Air Defenses far quicker.
- Pick the Barrage for the bigger bonus unless your group specifically wants the Khanjali's armor for the base assault.
- Save the Elite Challenge for a confident run. Dying or restarting voids the $50,000, so attempt the no-death clear only once your team knows the layout.
- Have Thruster experience. The jetpack chase ends the heist, and fumbling missile locks there can drag out an otherwise smooth run.
