GTA Online's latest large-scale DLC update, Further Adventures in Finance and Felony, added a massive new layer to gameplay to Rockstar's hyper-popular multiplayer open-world crime adventure. Building on the groundwork laid by Executives and Other Criminals last December — Finance and Felony invited players to climb even higher on the ladder of white collar criminals in Los Santos by taking control of their own clandestine organisation dealing in black market goods.
This presented players with a new alternative to grinding VIP jobs or Heists in order to acquire funds quickly — which is otherwise a pretty lengthy process. Running buy and sell missions is risky business however, as having your crates destroyed in transit will result in the loss of the investment.
Even getting into the business is a costly endeavor — you'll need a corporate office starting at one million, a warehouse and crates to ferry. Some players went broke jumping head first into the new GTA Online content expecting to make a profit within hours — when this didn't happen, they blamed the game.
However, being smart about being a CEO will slowly lead to the money flowing in at a massive rate. If you're patient and run with skilled associates, you'll be rich soon enough. Just make sure you keep an eye out for griefers and form pacts with fellow CEOs to eradicate them from your GTA Online session.
We've compiled a short list of tips for beginners soon after the DLC first launched which was followed by an official guide posted by Rockstar recently in regular fashion. A guide is usually posted some weeks after all major GTA Online updates, sometimes in multiple parts.
The first part of the Finance and Felony guide was posted on the Newswire not long ago, which promised a follow-up detailing some of the other features that were left out from the first version.
Sure, the main attraction in the DLC is the crate smuggling, but plenty of other features also fit into the update alongside that aspect. More VIP challenges and jobs were added to the joy of players, as these were among the most lucrative activities added in Executives.
The new VIP jobs, much like the old guard, offer greater rewards in the face of greater risk — the objectives are more difficult and other VIPs/Organisations can have at the same objective or hinder your progress for some cash of their own.
First up in the list of new VIP work is Headhunter, which takes "elimination of the competition" in the most literal way possible. You and your associates are tasked with killing some targets spread across the GTA Online map — however, you'll do well not to dally, as there is a time limit within which you must complete this activity.
Headhunter isn't no blue milk run, as the targets and their guards have greater-than-average armor and health going for them. Even if you're not soloing, going in on foot all-guns-blazing will waste you in no time. Either approach with a vehicle, or apply stealth — long distance kills will help you keep your blood inside your body and it comes in handy when you need to turn tail.
And turn tail you must, as upon the death of the target Los Santos' finest will be hot on your trail. Police in GTA 5 are notoriously tough, so you'll need an escape plan.
Speaking of escape plans, some of your targets will enact their before you make contact. Chasing a target in a vehicle will be tricky, as staying behind them will result in an oncoming hail of gunfire. Try to think ahead and out-manoeuvre your quarry.
Now, if you'll heed the first piece of advice, then soloing targets will be more than viable — it will be efficient. If your associates are up to snuff, one per stationary target and two per mobile target should do. This will save you time — and time is money.
We also suggested the use of vehicles — once the job is done, you'll get a relative sense of what you're up against if you've run it many times before. As such, it might be good to call in a few Pegasus drops with vehicles fit for various roles before initiating the job to shave of precious seconds.
Don't forget that Lester and VIP abilities are your friends. Since the police will be hounding you after the first target goes down, taking advantage of these abilities and services to lose the heat will assist in your endeavors.
Next up, we have the VIP Job Airfreight, featuring one of the most loved — or hated, depending on patch — aerial vehicle in the game: the Cargobob. Incidentally, some players have been getting free Cargobobs recently, seemingly at random.
Either way, this job helpfully supplies you with one such chopper so owning one isn't a prerequisite. You and your associates are tasked with liberating the vehicle and the cargo from their armed captors and deliver said cargo, unharmed, to a set destination.
Depending on your playstyle, when storming one of the fortified locations, you should commandeer or destroy the attack helicopter stationed there — if you leave it alone, it will come back to bit you in the ass. Literally and figuratively.
This isn't the time for fancy flying. All you need do is set a straight course to the drop off and go. Associates will need to cover you from the air as well as from the ground — the permanent 3 star wanted level will be calling a lot of cops on your tail. Remember, this is GTA 5 after all.
Make sure you've stocked up on parachutes. Once you deliver the cargo, a self-destruct mechanism will be triggered in the Cargobob to erase any and all evidence that could tie the operation back to you.
The third and last VIP job added to GTA Online with Finance and Felony is Haulage. It's pretty simple on paper. You need to deliver a trailer full of cargo to a destination with a semi. Only thing is, there is a whole host of mean people wanting you to not do just that.
Obviously the main thing you'll need to worry about here is escort — get something armored and armed, with wheels, to follow the trailer and fend off attackers. Said attackers will sometimes kamikaze into you frontally, so keep adjust your camera so you see what's right in front of the semi while still seeing far ahead — the skies are of no concern.
One of your associates should be following you with another semi sans trailer — if the one carrying the cargo takes too much damage, the driver should detach and allow the backup to take over. If you and your associates aren't entirely incompetent, two semis should last you the mission.
Of course, VIP work isn't the only new addition — VIP challenges are also on offer. The key difference is that VIP challenges are exclusively reserved for Bodyguards and Associates, giving them a chance to get some decent pay while their employers reap the big cash.
It also encourages healthy rivalry among the bodyguards, as they compete against each other during said challenges. The winner always gets the biggest reward, but all associates receive a participation reward.
First up in the new line-up is Cashing Out. The associates are tasked with hacking as many ATMs as possible before the timer hits zero — more importantly, they need to hack more ATMs than the other. Since the world of GTA Online is teeming with cash machines, this challenge will always be cutting it pretty close.
One way to prevent other players from surpassing you in this challenge is pretty simple — kill them. On the flip side, in order to prevent yourself being killed you should put some distance between yourself and your opponents instead of hitting the closest ATMs.
Being a chameleon would certainly benefit players during this challenge, as you should always keep an eye on your minimap, as planning which ATM to hit based on opponent movements is crucial. To prevent others from doing the same, you should call Lester to take you off the radar.
You'll need to be speedy if you want to succeed — you have 60 seconds after starting a hack before the cops latch on your tail, which is more than a slight nuisance. Some of the faster vehicles in GTA Online will benefit you here.
Finally you have Salvage, taking players to the seas around the GTA Online map. You'll be starting on the shore, but swimming isn't the fastest way to the target area — keep an eye out for Seasharks nearby.
Once again, offing your opponents to keep their score low is a good tactic — however you'll need to get close and personal, since knives are the only weapons you'll have. You can always leave your more rowdy rivals to duke it out while you swim over to a quieter bit of ocean.
Even with rebreathers, the number of checkpoints will deplete your supplies of life giving air soon enough. Luckily for you, this challenge also spawns crates of rebreathers along with checkpoints, so keep an eye out for those too.
Finance and Felony also added a pretty nifty weapon attachment — drum magazines. Since the majority of players prefer auto-aim lobbies, who wins in a firefight comes down to who has more bullets in their gun. With drum magazines, you'll be the guy with the most bullets. Skill be damned!
This massive GTA Online DLC also occasionally offers you with the chance to deliver special cargo crates for a significantly larger reward — and larger risk. Upon accepting the delivery, your exact location will be continually telegraphed to all other CEOs in the lobby — and all other players.
You should hire as many associates as possible, but make sure they are skilled too — you'll need plenty of muscle to guard the crates. In GTA Online, having a few less savory individuals in a public session cannot be avoided, so they'll be sure to come after your crates.
In order to save time and keep your momentum, you can pick up crates by driving over them — at full speed, if necessary. Of course, this is risky, as missing the angle will cause you to miss it, and going back is guaranteed suicide.
Remember, Pegasus is your friend. Buzzards and other armed vehicles will make fending off attackers significantly less stressful. Even armed/armored land vehicles come in pretty handy. Also, don't forget to utilize CEO abilities to lessen your troubles along the way.
Stockpiling will drive up the price, but you stand to lose a whole lot more of your investment too. Gauge the skill of your associates and act accordingly.
These tips, in addition to the ones in the previous guide give players a pretty well rounded knowledgebase to reference whenever in a tight spot — heed these and you'll be a damn successful CEO or Associate.
With Cunning Stunts, the next big GTA Online DLC launching tomorrow, you can expect Rockstar to post a similar guide regarding the content of that particular update soon as well. While compiling a guide on stunting beyond "git gud" is a pretty tall order since this is a rather... abstract gameplay factor, there will probably be other additions in the DLC which are as of yet unannounced.
Cunning Stunts will be adding new props to the Content Creator as well as new vehicles to GTA Online.
What tips do you have to add to this guide?
