Please find this thread as inspired by discussions in the 'main' GTA online thread to be a central repository for all things guiding you through your GTA experience. In addition to best ways to make money, dos and don'ts, and a beginners guide; I expect you'll find some cool stuff. Those who have shared some experiences with me in the game probably have high hopes reading this. I can hear an 'about time' in Exo's voice within my inner monologue right now.
Right now this first post is a more of a mission statement, to be updated later today and then subsequently throughout the following days and weeks as I compile all the relevant good stuff scattered round this subforum.
As a final rambling: this moment being catalysed by @rallymorten 's mention in the main thread regarding the centralisation of information pertaining to the acquisition and retention of the cash moneys, I have expanded upon the idea to a prior notion and something I should've gotten round to by now; a total comprehensive guide to gta online. Now, be forewarned that while I am not a graphics expect, I make up for it in text. Expect more mid-90s strategy guide than social media post.
In preparation I am going to snag the next few posts for the outline.
So, you've met Lamar, have you? Finding his cryptic advice, random telephone calls, and tutorial prompts a little confusing and intimidating? Well, below I will boil down the mass that is thrown at you in the early stages of the game to the bare essentials. Hopefully, a simple breakdown of what is absolutely necessary to advance, and knowing what bits you can skip or save for later will speed up your journey to become king of the streets.
Here you will find some tips on how to navigate through the tutorial period of the game, as well as some best practices and of course a road map to the staircase that will take you from scratchin' and survivin' to the door that opens to all of your GTA desires. Below, this section will focus on hastening your progress through the lower levels of the game, including must haves to prepare for your future successes in San Andreas. The primary goal of this section is to provide guidance in the most efficient ways to progress your character to the point at which you can make the jump to the serious earning methods detailed in the following post.
*Under Construction*
While I assemble the bits that will form this section, it will look rather unorganised. To begin with, I will simply be dropping notes for myself to include items for further editing and clarification. I will remove the notice above and rewriting the introduction once it is complete. It may look a mess for a bit, as I will be hastily dropping things here as I've apparently already run up against a timeout multiple times, and lost all of my progress here so far....
The Goal(s)
It's hard to know how to get there if you don't know where there is. Lucky for you, there is right below in the following post. Since we know that there is the position from which you can take the next step in your criminal profiteering enterprises, we know the end goal; to get your bank account over $1m so that you can begin to look at purchasing a CEO office. How do you get there? Since that is several steps ahead on your way to total financial independence, it is time to set some more immediately achievable goals. Divide and conquer.
As a newly minted digital resident of San Andreas, you will be faced with a number of adversities which you must overcome on your way to the top of the financial food chain. Your first goal is to complete the 'tutorial' portion of the game so that you can cease the initial solicitations and be your own free man(or woman.)
The Cash Money Dollar Dollar Bill Y'all Strategy Guide for Maximising the Potential Utilisation of Data
This section is the soon to be home for all informations needed to make a better informed next step as you are no longer a beginner in GTA Online. The following section will detail the most profitable steps to take now that you have a little bit of cash in your bank account and are ready to turn that into a lot of cash in your bank account. If you are not yet prepared to invest in these next steps, please find the above post as a guide to put yourself into a position where you can now move on from petty street crime into the land of oak offices, warehouses, three piece suits, and corporate stooges.
*Under Construction*
While I assemble the bits that will form this section, it will look rather unorganised. To begin with, I will simply be dropping notes for myself to include items for further editing and clarification. I will remove the notice above and rewriting the introduction once it is complete. It may look a mess for a bit, as I will be hastily dropping things here as I've apparently already run up against a timeout multiple times, and lost all of my progress here so far....
In the meantime, I will post a brief outline of the progression of earning methods available for those hungry for some info but don't need the acres of text details. The steps are in order, and will be elaborated upon as I get everything organised properly. Due to my goal of making this as concise and least rambley as possible, upon completion folks may note that certain activities do not have a reference, writeup, and profit breakdown. This is because I do not wish to waste your time, so when you see that there is no detail for profits on Smuggler's Run crates, it will be because you will find it on the coming-soon "not recommended" list instead. This is intended to take off from where the above post leaves your progress. If you have followed the above prerequisites, or have otherwise acquired the funds to take the next step toward financial independence in San Andreas; the following is your new path.
I have every reason to trust you've got this covered, but if you need a second hand with anything, I'll be glad to assist where I can. We have, after all, had some discussions on these topics before
Contributions, whether information others may have to provide that should be included or simply suggestions on things to cover are certainly more than welcome. I don't know everything that there is to know in the game, and of course each of us has our own playing style and limitations that come with that.
For the next couple of days, my goal is to put together the outline and format for the information. The idea is to develop a beginners guide for those starting off, starting over, switching platforms, etc along with several resources for experienced users. Those are to include the details for the most profitable money making methods, game strategies, and directions to other useful resources. I expect less copy-paste of writeups easily available elsewhere and more of a streamlined collection of resources for guidance through various aspects of progress throughout GTA Online. For example, there are 123623 different heist walkthroughs out there. I don't expect there is much benefit to writing another one. Folks knowing where to look to find the existing ones, however, I expect may be useful to some folks. Stuff like that.
The idea is more of a general GTA Online guide, focused on progressing your character in general toward your individual goals rather than specific detailed step by step instructions. There are so many ways to play the game that there is no particular set path for which to instruct someone.
So, from here I'll start to get together the format and some basic info. I'll be gathering this all between other tasks, so updates to the OPs and thread will probably come in chunks as I figure out the best way to display everything.
OK, so I'm going to start not from the beginning, but in the middle of most folks' progress. OP's will be updated with this info assuming the website doesn't S L O W T O A C R A W L and crash from toxic revenue streams. Again. Note: The scope of this writeup is limited to the profit-making side of bunker ownership, aka manufacturing. For information on the research side, please see the to-be-announced section on spending your money. This is just about earning it. As always, none of this info is secret; experienced folks know this stuff off the top of their head, similar writeups are all over the internet, etc. The scope of this guide is to simply consolidate that info into a place for GTPL to easily access, as well as to provide a forum to ask questions.
Your Bunker And How to Make it Pay For Your Toys
So, you've gotten yourself solvent again after ascending to the title of CEO with your new office, and would like some semi-passive income while you are out conquering world? You've come to the right place.
Step 1 - Buy A Bunker
Decisions, decisions, decisions. First off, are you ready to buy a bunker, all the upgrades, and start hustling right now? If you do not have at least $3.5 million in liquid; stop right here and go back to your previous step and continue to save until you do. I say this because $3.5 million is the amount you will need to buy the least expensive of the recommended bunker locations, plus Staff and Equipment upgrades. That is the absolute bare minimum recommended, and does not include the optional living quarters, weapon locker, golf carts, shooting range, etc. Thankfully, none of those are required, however they can be useful. That said, I recommending having at least $4.5 million on hand when making this purchase. More on that later.
So you're ready to buy some property. Location, location, location. Since all of the (higher value) sales drops are in Los Santos, ideally you will want the bunker as close to the city with the easiest access to the main roadways. For the scope of this writeup, which aims to provide only the most efficient recommendations; I can only recommend either the Chumash or Farmhouse Bunkers. Close runners up are the Zancudo and Thomson bunkers, if you want to be different at the expense of additional travel time.
Property Upgrades
When configuring your bunker, there will be several customisation options for your particular tastes. I will not waste your time addressing the cosmetic options, however I do recommend purchasing the living quarters as that will allow you to select your bunker as a spawn point. Forgoing the style options, shooting range, weapon locker, and golf carts will not hamper your earning potential, so purchase those at your own discretion. Personally, I purchased them all save for the style options as I preferred my bunker to look like a bunker.
Business Upgrades
Next task is to travel to your new bunker, and access the laptop upon your desk. There you can purchase the business upgrades under the 'Buy Upgrades' tab on the left side of the screen. The bunker business upgrades consist of Staff, Equipment, and Security upgrades. The first two are essential to your profit-making scheme, and as such I not only recommend but insist that you purchase the Staff and Equipment upgrades immediately. The staff and equipment upgrades are required in order to hit the profit numbers detailed below. They increase the efficiency of your production by both reducing the amount of supplies used to generate a specific amount of product and increasing the sale price for any given amount of product. I do not insist, but I do recommend the security upgrade. The security upgrade is designed to increase the time before the raid mechanic is activated. That said, I have never had my bunker raided at any amount of product in stock. That is with over $100 million in completed sales. I recommend the security upgrade solely because it will allow you to sit idle watching the security cameras and not time out due to being idle. This will allow your bunker to create product ($) while you are AFK without having to travel to your office or other location. If you have no desire to do that, then as always these final decisions lie with you.
Step 2 - Running Your Bunker
Now that you've spent your hard-earned in search of greater wealth and status, it's time to get to work. First thing is first, and that is to go to your laptop within the bunker and complete the Bunker Setup Mission. This mission is free, and will provide you with a full stock of supplies from which to generate your product to sell.
Now that you have returned from your setup mission, and your supply bar is full; it is time to go back to your bunker laptop and under 'Manage Staff' set staff to Manufacturing only.
From here, there are two schools of thought; the standard solo method and the full bunker method. I will detail both so that folks can make decisions for themselves, however I personally can only in good conscience recommend the solo method. So, here it goes...
The Solo Method
Easy as pie, this is. Your bunker supplies are full, and your staff is set to manufacturing only. Your next task is simply to return to the bunker and resupply once the product bar fills to $28k on the meter in the lower right corner of the screen when inside the bunker. Since the bunker, when fully upgraded, will produce $7k in supplies every 7 minutes, you can simply plan to return to the bunker 28 minutes after you receive your supplies. It's that simple. To make it even easier, I simply just take a glance at my in-game phone and take note of the time I receive my "Your supplies have been delivered" text, and plan to return round 12 hours later in game time. This is 24 minutes, which gives you a touch of cushion in timing. Don't delete that text if you are forgetful, then you can always pull it back up to check the time. The cost to resupply at the $28k mark will be $15k. Now you can leave to go about your business and relax with the knowledge that your bunker will now fill to $175 without further effort, which is the maximum amount that still guarantees a single vehicle sale when you are playing solo in the organisation.
"The Numbers and Why This Works" Section as follows belongs in spoiler text but somehow it keeps splitting into two spoiler tags. The spoiler later in this post appears to work fine on 4/16/18, although it had the same problem as of 4/13.....so clearly something on the site is changing in the background. I'll try and edit it again maybe if this gets remedied as it keeps splitting no matter what device or browser I use.
As described above, it's pretty simple. All $ numbers are per the meter in the lower right corner whilst inside the bunker unless noted.
The Facts:
- A full load of supplies costs $75.
- The bunker generates $140k in product for a full load of supplies.
- It takes approximately 140 minutes, or 2hrs 20mins for the bunker to use a full load of supplies to create that $140k in product.
- The maximum single vehicle sale amount is $175k with just yourself in the organisation.*
Knowing this, one can further deduce;
- Since the minimum amount or 'unit' of supplies you can purchase is $15k and a full bar is $75k you might consider a full bar of supplies to be alternatively 5 'units' of supplies.
- Knowing that a full bar of supplies produces $140k, you could consider that each $15k 'unit' creates $28k in product.
Now that we know a full load of supplies creates $140k in product but that you can sell up to $175, means you need to generate $35k more in product beyond a full load of supplies to maximise your profit per sale and according per amount of effort required by you. After all, the whole point is efficient earning, of course. So why if you need $35k more in product am I telling you to go back and buy $15k more supplies which only make $28k in product? Because the time it takes for the $15k in supplies to be delivered your bunker is still producing product. You aren't sitting idle waiting for the delivery, so when the supplies appear and the bar is refilled, your product meter is at $35k now. And your supply bar is full. And since we know a full bar of supplies makes $140k, and we already have $35k product in stock.......when we let the bunker run out we know we will now have $175k in product to sell. The maximum which allows for a single vehicle sale.*
*Assuming you are solo in the organisation. If you have any bodyguards/mc members hired you may receive two insurgents, which only have one singe drop off each. This is the mission where the game takes you off radar when you stay in close proximity, and introduces a grainey and pixelated screen when you do not(for those familiar.)
The Full Bunker Method(solo optional, but not advised)
The full bunker method is even more simple to understand, yet more difficult to execute without the help of others. It simply consists of purchasing a load of supplies 5 times, every ~2hrs 10 mins after receiving you prior shipment of supplies. After 11hrs 40mins(assuming you were at your bunker exactly 2hrs 10mins to assure that your bunker production doesn't suspend while waiting for supplies to be delivered) you will have a full bunker that reads $700k on the meter. This will sell for $1,050,000 in Los Santos.
Selling a full bunker will see you faced with one of several missions, some of which are impossible to complete solo in the time allotted. These include the 5-stop insurgents, 5-stop dune buggies, and 5-stop Marshall monster trucks. The remaining missions are typically doable solo, which is where the 'solo option' comes in. As you are more likely to get a non-solo-friendly mission than a solo-friendly mission with a full bunker, I do not recommend selling a full bunker solo for most players. Use your own discretion.
If you are going to attempt to sell full bunkers solo, the most touted method is simply resetting the game each time you start a sale mission until you get a mission you are able to complete solo. The first reset will reduce your $1,050,000 payout to $1,018,000. No big deal there. However, I have done this myself and sometimes you get an easy sale the first time, and sometimes it takes 6+ resets. This is why I cannot recommend this method, because the efficiency loss beyond several resets means you could have been better off doing other activities. And that negates the whole point of all of this; to identify what activities to focus on for maximum profit efficiency.
Step 3 - Profit!
That's about it, really. There are other particulars that could be detailed, however my goal is to keep this as concise as possible and not rewrite the other dozens of walkthroughs out there. In the future I may detail strategies specific to particular missions, but that is beyond the scope of this section. The goal here is simply to cut through the fat and answer the question "Should I buy a Bunker and how do I make the easiest money with it?"
That said, for the detail-oriented I have included below a further breakdown of the numbers.
Keeping it simpler; here is the profit statement for the above business. Ongoing utilities/fees not included as they vary by player and how many businesses you own and whether you operate your bunker as an MC or CEO. Figure subtract 1-2 daily fees per single vehicle, and 5-7 for a full bunker(varies upon your resupply and sale timing.) Also not included are ammunition, armour, and vehicle/misc. fees. Thusly, these figures below are a 'best case' scenario without those variables; actual profits will be accordingly slightly lower.
Minimum Initial Cost Outlay - $3,403,500
- This assumes absolute bare minimum with least expensive of the recommended bunkers(Chumash) and only the essential staff and equipment upgrades.
Profit Per Maximum Single Vehicle Sale - $172.5K ($262.5k - $90k supply cost)
- Takes 175 minutes to produce
Profit Per Full Bunker Sale - $675,000 ($1,050,000 - $375k supply cost)
- Takes 700 minutes to produce
Profit Per Maximum Single Vehicle Sale x 4: $690,000
As you can see from the above numbers, 4 solo single vehicle sales actually produces slightly more profit than a single full bunker sale while taking the same amount of time to generate. This is because of the above-detailed bit ("The Numbers and Why This Works") regarding the supply delivery latency between $28-35k that the solo method capitalises upon, essentially receiving $7k in product for free each time.
Also clear is that given the profit per sale and initial cost, it will take a minimum of 20 maximum single vehicle sales or 6 full bunkers before you break even. That is, of course without consideration taken for daily fees, ammunition, vehicle fees, deaths, etc. Worth note as to not confuse anyone, the break even for full bunker sales occur just past the profits from 5 completed sale. However, because you cannot sell a partial bunker and still call it a full bunker sale; you will not actually break even(and begin profiting) until you complete your 6th sale of the full bunker.
Final Numbers: When you assume 15 min sale time for single vehicles, plus ~10 mins for travel to and from resupplying(very conservative) you're looking at approximately $160k profit for 25 minutes of effort. This IS taking into consideration daily fees for owning two businesses, with a couple thousand for ammunition, deaths, vehicles, etc. IMO, the only thing easier to make that kind of profit in comparable time is.......I/E!
Personally, I don't think the security upgrade is needed, for two reasons:
1. The raid mechanic is based on a timer that is only active when you have 50% or more product in your bunker. If you never carry this much on hand, you'll never get raided to begin with.
2. The AFK timeout can be bypassed easily. Either rubberband or lay down your controller on something so that your character is just walking into a wall indefinitely. You don't even have to be moving; the game just needs to detect any input from the controller.
Ok, so you've got a little cash in the bank and are tiring of the 3-5 minute $25k odd jobs. You've met some well-to-do folks and toured enough garages where you've gotten a taste of the good life. So what's the next step? In the true fashion of pursuing the American Dream; you simply buy your way up! How?! I'm going to tell you! Your next step up the ladder is to...
Buy a CEO Office
All of your future income earning ventures begin here. Of course, there are other income earning methods than with the CEO platform, however assuming you are the next up-and-coming independently wealthy of San Andreas elite this is your ticket. Buying a CEO office opens up all of the new opportunities that will then take you even further to the next level. In the meantime, owning an office will provide a number of conveniences and make your climb to the top a bit more luxurious.
On to the good stuff. In order to even begin to consider an office, you are going to want at least $1 million in free and available liquid. I would recommend having at least $2 million available for this purchase, and that is if you are satisfied with the least expensive option that is Maze Bank West. As an indicator, I spent somewhere near $6 million, so if you are a premium product purchaser who has to have it all; keep saving.
On its own, the CEO office does little for your profit-earning abilities. It does provide some convenience, as well as satisfy the prerequisite for purchasing an I/E warehouse and bunker at once. As such, some folks may prefer to hold off on laying out the cash for an office until they can do the office and I/E warehouse in one shot and immediately get to work. To do this, you will want to have at least ~$3 million available, and that is again assuming the least expensive office and warehouse, with little or no customisation. Otherwise, you will be laying out the cash for the office and then be returning to your current grind to save up for an I/E warehouse.
Step 1 - Choose an Office
This part is pretty easy, as you will either have little or no choice based upon your available finances, or you can purchase whichever location pleases you. Aside from travel time returning to the office from your not-yet-purchased I/E warehouse, there is little strategic value to any particular location. My advice is to purchase what you like, and what you can afford. I spend a lot of time at my office, and it has become a home away from my several other homes. This is why, as described above, I did not hesitate to spend the money. Not that it should affect your decisions, but for those curious I purchased Lombank West, with all upgrades and Old Spice Warm style. I loved the location, and since the expansion of the office garages it may enjoy the most spectacular view from any property in game in Garage 1. IMO, of course. I'm not going to recommend any particular location, because if you follow the prescribed earning methods within this guide it really doesn't much matter. Even return distance from your I/E warehouse isn't significantly impacted by more than several seconds once you are proficiently operating from a helicopter.
Step 2 - Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Once you have decided to purchase an office and decided on a location, you are now ready for more decisions! There are several office options you will be faced with, from decoration styles to facilities. You will be able to choose the decoration style, personal assistant gender, as well as your organisation name. Choose your organisation name wisely, as it will cost you $250k to change it later on. This is one reason you see so many "An Organisation" CEOs out there. From there you will have the option to purchase several upgrades detailed below.
Money Safe - provides no strategic value, for show only. Purchase at your desire only.
Weapon Locker - provides ability to customise your weapon wheel, same as those available in your bunker, MOC, Avenger, Biker Clubhouse, etc. Purchase if you do not already own or like the flexibility of multiple locker locations. Accomodation - provides ability to set office as spawn point, as well as shower and change clothing. Highly Recommended, more on that later.
At this point you will also have the option to purchase office garage spaces, and an office vehicle modification shop. I will leave these options to yours and your bank account's discretion as they are not required and do not alter your earning potential. Details of the garage and mod shop are beyond the scope of this earning tutorial and will instead be covered under sections for how to spend your money.
Step 3 - Spend the Cash
Once you've gone over the options, your budget, and you are confident in your decisions; pull the trigger. BUY! That's it, you're done.
For AFK if you want your bunker to run without timing out you can just get your character to watch the security cameras and you won't time out. Or alternatively you can watch TV in an apartment or office.
Expect more mid-90s strategy guide than social media post.
This is intended to take off from where the above post leaves your progress. If you have followed the above prerequisites, or have otherwise acquired the funds to take the next step toward financial independence in San Andreas; the following is your new path.
