Understanding Project Overthrow and LSA operations in the San Andreas Mercenaries DLC.
Rockstar Games is back with another content-filled update introducing new characters, story missions, security missions, and the much-awaited jets in its new San Andreas Mercenaries DLC. There is also a new Mercenary Corp led by Charlie Reed, with Reed's Mercenary Corp going head to head against Merryweather Security.
It is straightforward to start the DLC quest online, akin to all the DLCs released by Rockstar Games. However, it can get confusing for some players, as navigating the online space after each update can get overwhelming.
In this article, we will guide you on how to start the new DLC missions and complete each mission with valuable tips and tricks. All our written guides have in-game screenshots and they are accompanied by a clear video guide for your visual reference.
For starters, when you log into the game after the update, you will receive a call from Charlie Reed. After the call, players can see the 'C' icon on the map, an abbreviation for Charlie Reed.
If you do not get a call from Charlie Reed, you can always head to the 'C' location and enter the white highlighted marker. This marker will be there, regardless of whether you get a call from Charlie Reed or not. If he calls you first, the market turns yellow.
After the call, you will be asked to make a hefty purchase before you can begin your San Andreas Mercenaries DLC missions. Not only do you need to purchase the Mammoth Avenger from the Warstock Cache & Carry online store, but you also need to get a new Operations Terminal upgrade to start the missions.
The base model of the Avenger costs $3,450,000, and the fully upgraded version costs $4,787,500. There is a reason that many players haven't been able to purchase this behemoth since its release with the Doomsday Heist. The Operations Terminal will set you back by $1,450,000.
You can purchase the Operations Terminal by visiting the Warstock Cache & Carry website and renovating the Avenger. You can also do the same by visiting a Hangar, if you own one.
You can access the Operations Terminal by entering the hold of your Avenger. You do not need to go to your Hangar or any other building to access it. You can always call in your Avenger via your interaction menu and enter the hold to access the Operations Terminal. That is where you can start your San Andreas Mercenaries missions as well.
The Operations Terminal offers two types of missions — Project Overthrow and LSA Operations. Let's discuss what each of these offer and what to expect.
Project Overthrow is a series of main storyline missions of the San Andreas Mercenaries DLC. It consists of six story missions around taking down Merryweather Security and solidifying Charlie Reed's mercenary presence in Los Santos. You can perform these missions in both public and invite-only sessions.
LSA Operations are freemode missions like security contracts. These missions come in different varieties with additional rewards for completing bonus challenges. You can also start these missions by contacting Charlie Reed from your phone. You can perform these missions in both public and invite-only sessions.
Three random missions appear on the Operations Terminal with a random base reward and a bonus objective. These bonus objectives are also random and pay $15,000 per mission. While the bonus payout is fixed, the base payout is always random.
Once you complete a single mission, you get a 20-minute cooldown timer before you can attempt another LSA Operations mission. There are two difficulty levels: Professional and Specialist. The Professional level rewards players anywhere between $45,000 and $55,000, while the Specialist pays between $60,000 and $70,000.
If you have associates in your organization, they will always receive a fixed amount of $30,000, regardless of the difficulty level. The bonus payment for the completion of bonus objective remains the same for everyone.
The following is a list of all the missions with bonus objectives:
Completing each mission for the first time will also reward you with an outfit. The following are the outfits you unlock for each mission:
Let's dive into each mission you get in Project Overthrow. There are six missions, and each gets progressively more difficult than the other. However, with the tips and strategies in this guide, you should be able to complete them without an issue.
Before we get into the missions, it is imperative that you get the Missile Lock-Jammer and Missile Launcher upgrades for your Avenger.
You can access these upgrades by taking your Avenger to your Hangar and going to the Charlie Upgrades category. These upgrades will make missions revolving around the Avenger much easier.
In the first mission, you are tasked to go to David Quartz Quarry, destroy the supply trailers, steal the Draugr from one of the containers at the site, and bring it back to LSA Lockup.
When you get to the site, engage Avenger's auto-pilot by going to your interaction menu and enter its hold.
Once inside the hold, use one of the turrets and destroy all the marked supply trailers.
It is optional, but you can also take out some guards and the anti-air turrets for an easier time escaping once you get the Draugr.
Destroy all the supply trailers and the surrounding enemies. Once you're happy, land the Avenger near the container.
Get out of the Avenger and carefully but quickly reach the marked container and shoot the lock to open it up.
You can approach the container, and a small cutscene will play.
Once the cutscene ends, you will be driving the Draugr that you need to deliver to the LSA Lockup.
The easiest way to deliver this is first to drive it in Avenger's hold and then fly the Avenger back to LSA Lockup.
As you fly back to the lockup, you will face resistance but continue to fly, ignoring them as the AI mostly misses.
Land the Avenger near the lockup and drive the Draugr to the yellow marker to complete the mission.
In this mission, you need to go to two different crash sites and steal some charges from inside the crates underwater. We highly recommend stocking up on snacks and armor, as you will need them.
There are two crash sites, each riddled with Merryweather choppers and boats scanning the area for the same charges.
When the mission starts, first make your way to the crash site located at the Alamo Sea. This one is the closest but also the toughest.
Do not fly at a high altitude when you get to the crash site. If you are at a higher altitude, your enhanced camera from the Avenger won't be able to detect the cargo underwater, even if it is centered in the middle of your camera.
Fly relatively lower and closer to the sea and engage auto-pilot. After engaging the auto-pilot, enter the hold and use the turrets to take out the enemy choppers.
Once you've taken them out, land the Avenger on the ground closest to the cargo. You can just land the Avenger at the same location shown in our screenshots.
If you get more choppers, enter the hold and use the Avenger's turrets to take them out quickly.
You can ignore the Merryweather guards unless they are close to you. Quickly exit the Avenger and dive into the water. Swim to the cargo and collect it.
As you're swimming back, you will notice that more choppers will spawn, and their perfect aim will destroy you. Always keep an eye on your health and armor bar and quickly replenish whenever needed.
Luckily, you can do that by using the shortcuts from your weapons wheel. Gone are the days of opening up the interaction menu to heal or armor up.
Once you're back on land, you can take out the choppers by eliminating the pilots.
Quickly head inside your Avenger and go to the second crash site at Cape Catfish.
You repeat the same thing here, engage auto-pilot, use Avenger's turrets to take out the enemies, and land the Avenger on the sea crane.
Once you've landed, quickly head underwater and pick up the second charge. This one is relatively easier as the crate is directly below the sea crane. So you won't have to swim far out into the distance.
When you're done, swim back up to your Avenger and deliver the charges to LSA Lockup to complete the mission.
This mission seems to have been everyone's least favorite, for all the right reasons! The latter half of the mission is quite tiresome and time-consuming.
In this mission, you must first get into the new F-160 Raiju jet and fly it through Raton Canyon, ensuring you're in Stealth mode.
Once you're through, you must perform some tricks and score 15 points. The easiest way to do this is to perform barrel rolls. The first roll gives 3 points, and the following rolls give 1 point each.
After acquiring 15 points, the first part is done. In the second part, AR training will begin, where you need to shoot targets for three minutes. As soon as you hit your first target, the timer will begin.
There is no required score limit here. You just need to kill time. So if you want, you can just score 1 point, land the plane somewhere, and wait out the three-minute timer. But where's the fun in that?
Each target is colored differently and gives points based on the color. Gold gives 10, Red gives 5, Blue gives 3, and White gives 1 point.
Once the timer ends, you will be asked to return to Fort Zancudo Hangar. However, you will be met with enemy choppers, jets, and Avengers.
The best way to take on choppers is by going slightly behind them and using homing missiles to lock on. Do not shoot when facing head-on, as the missiles mostly miss the mark. The missiles are much more precise when shot from behind the target.
Some choppers won't move until you get close to them. You can use this to your advantage so you can hit them accurately. You can use your hover mode and keep your distance to target them. This way, the choppers won't move, and the missiles will hit them, guaranteed.
It is okay if you are left with one or two choppers. If the jets spawn in, start focusing on the jets primarily and take them all out before the enemy Avengers show up.
Use the same strategy of shooting the jets from behind. But, whenever you shoot at the jets, double shoot at these jets as two missile shots can generally take them out easily.
You might not even notice, but some jets may gradually crash due to the damage your first shot might have caused them.
Once the Avenger spawns, do not focus on that. Continue to clear the sky of any choppers and jets. We will shift our focus on the Avenger at the end as it is very easy to take care of it.
After taking care of the last jet or chopper, go into Stealth mode and lure the Avenger through the canyon. If you were on Hard mode, you will have two enemy Avengers following you, but you will still use the same strategy. Just ensure that both closely follow you as you enter the canyon.
As you go through the canyon in Stealth mode, you will notice that the enemy Avenger(s) will crash on their own. They will either hit a mountain, a tree, or a bridge, and will explode on impact. Yup, it is that easy.
Now, fly back to Fort Zancudo Hangar to complete the mission.
In this mission, you need to obtain some Merryweather cargo crates from their warehouse. You can do this mission in two ways: stealth or loud. Stealth is not that difficult, and it is a faster approach.
First, go to McKenzie Airfield and land the Avenger on the runway.
After that, use one of the parked bikes to go to the Merryweather warehouse.
When you get close, equip a suppressed weapon.
If you approach the warehouse from the west, you will see a single guard directly ahead of you. Take him out with a headshot.
Continue moving forward and wait for another guard to pass by the containers. Take him out as well.
Go left, and you will notice two guards chatting by the tractor. Take them both out.
Jump over the fence, and you will see another guard out in the distance, take him out as well.
Now move towards the front entrance of the warehouse and take out the guard closest to you.
You will notice two more guards directly ahead of the guard you just eliminated. Take them both out as well.
After that, go right and behind the warehouse. You will find a single guard here. Take him out before running back to the front.
You will find another guard in the distance by his jeep. Eliminate him.
Now, you can eliminate the guard to your right, standing next to another vehicle with its bonnet open.
Now, there's only one guard left. Go behind him and take him out with a headshot.
Make your way to the warehouse and stay in a stealth position.
As soon as you enter, you will notice one guard directly ahead of you welding. Go for the headshot.
Then turn right, and you will see another guard crouched beside a shelf. Take him out.
Moving forward, you will find another guard crouched next to a generator. Take him out.
After that, take out the guard on the right.
And then the one on the left next to some wooden crates.
Keep moving forward, and you will find another guard on the left side of the office. Take him out.
Now, you can take out the final two guards inside the office by shooting through the window.
After eliminating all the guards, start collecting the crates. They are generally in the same spot. But if you don't find them, just run around the warehouse, and they will automatically be marked as green dots on your minimap when you get closer.
Here are the locations we found:
On a stack of wooden pallets next to the office.
On a workbench on the right side of the office.
On a metal shelf to your right as soon as you enter the warehouse.
On a shelf on the left side of the office.
When you grab all four crates, go to the Rumpo (Van) and deliver all the crates.
After that, drive the Rumpo and exit the warehouse.
Now you need to deliver this to LSA Lockup. If you thought of using the Avenger to deliver this Rumpo easily, you're out of luck as Merryweather destroys your Avenger!.
Your only option is to drive the Rumpo all the way back to the city and deliver it to LSA Lockup.
As you drive it back to the lockup, you will get two bars at the bottom-right corner of your screen. One is a lock-on meter, and the other is a speed meter.
Some Merryweather guards and a jet will chase you. The speed meter has a black line. Keep an eye out for this bar. Make sure the speed bar doesn't go below the black line. If it does, the lock-on meter will start to rise.
If the lock-on bar is filled, the jet can lock onto you and eliminate you.
Shortly after, you will get Rooster's air support. As long as you stay inside the blue region (as seen on the minimap), the jet won't be able to lock onto you. The meters will turn grey suggesting you are not safe.
Once you get on the main highway, it is a breeze. Drive back to the LSA Lockup to complete the mission. It is also worth noting that the jet and the Merryweather stop chasing you as soon as you enter the city.
In this mission, you must infiltrate the FIB headquarters and rescue Avi Schwartzman. Yup, we rescue Schwartzman, yet again.
It is best to stock up on armor and snacks for this mission, you will need them. Luckily, you get the refills from Avenger's hold during this mission.
When you get a prompt, pick up the parachute and wait for P to give you the green light for a HALO jump.
Once ready, approach the rear end of the Avenger to exit and jump.
Continue diving towards the yellow marker on the minimap, and try to land on the roof of the building. There is one guard up there as well. We will take him out as well.
When you land, switch to a suppressed weapon and take out the guard. Always go for the headshots!
After eliminating the guard, use the ladder to go down and continue moving toward the server farm entrance.
You will find two more guards here. But before taking them out, keep an eye out for a patrolling guard who can see them.
Luckily, we got to the two guards first. You can see the patrolling guard on the minimap and through the gate as we move forward.
If the guard reaches the gate, wait for him to turn around before you can go in front of the gate.
Once turned around, quickly go and take him and the guard on the left out.
There's another guard across the trash container. You can take out this guard as well if you want. But there is another patrolling guard right next to him. So, be careful before you take him out. The safest bet is to leave that guard alone.
Use the keypad to unlock the door and enter the server farm.
When you're inside, carefully take out the guard at the bottom and follow the route by going right.
Another guard is patrolling the route on the right. Wait for him to turn around and take him out before continuing down the path.
Go through the server compartments for some extra protection. Keep your eyes on the minimap as you move through these compartments.
As soon as you see a large cone of vision, pre-aim in that direction and take out the guards looking your way with a headshot.
Following the same strategy, continue moving forward until you reach Avi.
Take out all the guards around Avi and approach him. Now, you take the same route back while eliminating any incoming enemies. Once you get to Avi, the guards will be alerted. You cannot sneak your way out.
Do not leave Avi behind, and stick together. And do not leave enemies either, because Avi won't move if enemies are nearby.
Once you reach the middle, you can make a run for the elevator. You don't need to worry about Avi anymore, he will follow you outside.
When you get outside, quickly go to the middle, take cover by the 'Los Santos Government Facility' stone, and take out the chopper. This can easily be done by shooting the pilot.
Be very careful and keep an eye out for enemies that may ambush you from behind. Always look out for them on your minimap.
Keep clearing the enemies by the vehicles and enter the armored riot van when you see an opening.
Drive towards the exit. The door will be locked, but you can open it by shooting the fuse (marked with a red arrow).
You don't have to worry about getting shot at too much since you will be inside a riot van. It has good protection.
When you get outside, drive to the Avenger for the last part of the mission.
Now, you must use the Avenger turrets to protect the Avenger from incoming Merryweather choppers and jets. Keep protecting until the Avenger flies away to complete the mission.
In this mission, you end Merryweather for good. Please make sure you stock up on snacks and armor for this one too, you're going to experience lots of combat.
First, make your way to the Merryweather HQ. You will be asked to land the Avenger at the HQ. But wait to land the Avenger. Use the homing missiles to remove as many guards as possible before you land.
Remember, you can go into hover mode to make the Avenger easier to maneuver.
Once you've taken out as many as possible, you can go ahead and land the Avenger and proceed on foot.
Now you need to go to the control room on the other side of the docks. Watch for the guards on the platforms around you and ahead of you.
You can stick to the left side of the area and keep pushing forward as you eliminate incoming Merryweather guards. It is not that difficult. Just keep an eye out for enemies on your minimap.
At the end, you will find some stairs. You can use the stairs to climb up to the control room and use Avi's keycard to open the door to the control room.
When you try to open the door, it won't work. For the keycard to work, you must destroy ten signal jammers scattered around the area.
Just so you know, you can destroy all the jammers just by standing on the same platform as the door. Here are all ten signal jammer locations (highlighted with a red circle). You can also use a thermal scope on your sniper rifle to easily identify them.
Once you've destroyed all ten jammers, try the keycard again, and the door should open. You will find two guards inside.
Take them out and press the button in the control room to disengage the cargo lock.
Now, make your way to the cargo. First, stay on the platform after leaving the control room and wait for the boats to arrive and destroy them.
Continue going downstairs and eliminate the guards on your way down. Take your time, and always remember to take cover. You have plenty of cover in this area, even on stairs.
When you get to the cargo, always take out as many guards as you can before pushing the cargo.
If you feel like the enemies are getting overwhelmingly dangerous. Stop and eliminate them first.
Two choppers will also spawn. Take them out by either using an RPG or shooting the pilot. Always keep an eye out for your health and armor and replenish whenever needed. This is why we advised you to stock up on snacks and armor before you begin this mission.
Continue pushing the cargo to the Avenger. Once the cargo is secured, enter the Avenger and return to Fort Zancudo Hangar to complete the mission.
You will get a final cutscene and thus concludes our San Andreas Mercenaries DLC story missions.
San Andreas Mercenaries is a GTA Online DLC that lets players join a renegade outfit to take down Merryweather Security. Players get to participate in aerial combat, as well as do new missions that involve stealing sensitive data, conducting raids, and dropping explosive payloads with elite, ex-military operators. San Andreas Mercenaries was released on June 13, 2023.
To start San Andreas Mercenaries, answer the call from Charlie Reed or go to his location (marked on the map in the guide above) to begin your San Andreas Mercenaries missions.
Some of the rewards you get from GTA San Andreas Mercenaries are clothing, vehicle finishes, and other exclusive cosmetics. Completing freemode missions in LSA Operations can also give you between $45,000 to $55,000 for Professional level missions and between $60,000 to $70,000 for Specialist level, plus a bonus payout of $15,000 per mission.
