Yesterday, Rockstar released the final major update for GTA Online in 2016, with only the holiday celebrations remaining. Import/Export brought a massive amount of content to the game, and took Online back to the roots of the franchise in order to freshen up the gameplay experience. New vehicles, warehouses, missions and an Adversary Mode are all new to the game.
While we did our best to cover launch with as much information off the bat as possible, some things only become apparent once the update has been experienced firsthand. Any fan who played with GTA Online since Import/Export went live will have realized that there is a lot to the update that Rockstar's official release post didn't reveal.
We've decided to scour the internet for all the various secrets and details players have discovered, and add that which we've discovered ourselves. If you have any questions about Import/Export and the new content it brought to GTA Online, chances are you'll find an answer in here.
Firstly, there still seems to be some measure of misunderstanding among players about how the new executive garages and vehicle warehouses relate to any of the existing properties in the game, even though the DLC has already launched. For starters, the new vehicle warehouses are entirely separate from the executive garages.
Vehicle warehouses act like regular warehouses, in the sense that this is where you store cargo before you sell it. The only difference is that instead of contraband items and crates, vehicle warehouses store cars that you stole and want to export for cash. These are not used to house your personal vehicles, nor do they add to your garage slots.
Executive garages, on the other hand, are new additions to the offices introduced in Further Adventures in Finance and Felony. These are multi-floor garages that can be expanded with additional floors and a special mechanic. The base garage has 20 vehicle slots, and each added floor adds 20 more to a maximum of three floors and 60 cars. The mechanic, on the other hand, functions as an in-house LSC and Benny's, so you don't even need to leave your garage to get your cars modified.
Now, everyone has one thing on their mind: prices. Sure, a massive 60 slot garage sitting right under your executive offices is nice, especially with the customs shop included. But how much does such decadence cost? Well, as it turns out, a lot, actually. The most expensive executive garage is the add-on for the Lombank West office. With all bonuses selected the garage will set you back $6,850,000.
Pocket change. Considering that the Megalodon Shark Card costs $100 in real cash and is worth $8,000,000 in-game, it means that the most expensive executive garage option is currently more valuable in real money than the entire game itself at full price (which it rarely is). Let that sink in. Props to Reddit user chuck_the_man for the image.
As for how these executive garages function, you don't have all three floors in a single physical space, so it isn't like the instance you're loaded into contains all three floors and regulates access on how many you bought. Each floor acts as a separate garage, meaning they can be customized individually (yay!) and that they are separated by loading screens (boo).
As for special vehicles, quite a bit of new info has popped up that paints a slightly different picture than what we've come to expect from the announcement. Completing exports will procedurally unlock missions for the special vehicles, and if you complete these missions, you'll get a discount for whichever vehicle was featured in the mission.
However, some of these special vehicles get a downgrade compared to their mission counterparts. The Phantom Wedge and the Ramp Buggy are much more vulnerable in Freemode than they are in their missions, with both of them catching fire after ramming around 30 vehicles.
Granted, up until that point both are beasts (the ramp buggy is particularly impressive when sending a semi with a trailer attached up into the air), however, this low durability from what should be tanks more or less is disappointing. Another downgraded vehicle is the Ruiner 2000. The purchased version has limited missile capacity, meaning you have to go back to your warehouse after every 8 missiles fired to restock.
These changes and the fact that the discount price was given its own button has caused a bit of confusion among players. Many assume that buying the cheaper version, unlocked by completing the mission, gives them the downgraded car, while paying more for the vehicle will keep it as powerful as it was in the mission. This, unfortunately, is not the case, and you'll get the weakened version of the vehicle in all cases.
In more positive news, players have discovered a neat little feature of the Ruiner 2000. When vehicle access settings prevent a player from getting in the car, but they try anyways, the door handle will zap them, dealing minimal damage while triggering some pretty hilarious animations. When testing, we saw one player slam their face into the vehicle before ragdolling.
With all of the vehicle warehouse locations including prices having been posted by o0Narako0o, many pointed out that strangely enough the cheapest warehouse had the best location. Being positioned next to a highway exit, it is among the easiest to access. Naturally, this led many to believe that it is the best choice for a warehouse.
We'd like to caution players against assuming this. Firstly, rule of thumb is that the cheapest and most expensive of anything in GTA Online will always be the two most often used. This is true of properties and warehouses alike, meaning that unless you want to deliver your precious cargo to a hotspot — which will inevitably be camped by griefers — you probably shouldn't pick either end of the spectrum.
Another thing to consider is that other players will also note how good the cheapest location is in terms of accessibility, and the fact that it's in such a central location in terms of traffic means that even non-CEO players will be frequent around the area. Picking this location will guarantee a freaking blockade every time you want to import a vehicle.
While picking one of the outlying warehouses might make travel time a bit longer and slightly less convenient, it will make your operations more secure and fewer incidents will befall you. Picking any of the warehouses other than the cheapest will help really, however we suggest the one at the airport.
In other news, while this update hasn't exactly introduced a new racing king in terms of vehicles, players have pretty much unanimously crowned a new 'favorite of the community'. The Rocket Voltic is enjoying immense praise and fame among fans for its entertaining function.
One fun albeit unintended use of the vehicle's rocket engine is that of a weapon. If activated when NPCs, vehicles or other players are right behind the Rocket Voltic, they will be blasted away with as much speed as you are boosted forward. Utilizing this effect on unsuspecting foes while hidden behind a corner to prop is a guaranteed way to make your day.
What kinds of hidden bonuses and features have you discovered in GTA Online's newest update?
