Reuniting the Family
Michael falls asleep at home in front of a film and wakes to find Jimmy back. Jimmy apologises, and tells him Amanda is not happy with Fabien. Michael sets out to win his family back.
-
1
Three stops and home
Drive to the Bean Machine, where Amanda is with Fabien. Then drive to the tattoo parlour in Vinewood to collect Tracey, who is there with Lazlow. Then drive to Dr. Friedlander's office, and finally back to Michael's house.
- Gold: complete within 10:30.
Two of the guides add that Michael's tennis court opens again afterwards, and that he can hang out with Amanda and Jimmy again.
Legal Trouble
At Solomon's office in Backlot City, Michael finds Devin and Molly. Devin plans to kill Solomon's film for the insurance money, and Molly leaves with the film reel.
-
1
The chase
Take a fast car and head for Los Santos International Airport. Molly drives onto the runways with a police escort, causing chaos as she goes; stay with her until she stops at a hangar, then chase her on foot. The chase ends badly for Molly.
-
2
The reel
Pick up the film reel and lose the police to finish.
- Gold: complete within 5:30; reach top speed in any car; lose the wanted level within 2:00; view the Weazel News camera for 15 seconds.
Lamar Down
Tanisha visits Franklin at his house in Vinewood Hills: Lamar has been set up, and the Ballas are holding him at the Paleto Forest sawmill. Franklin goes, and gets Lester to call in Michael and Trevor.
-
1
The sawmill
Drive the long way north to the sawmill, where Michael and Trevor are waiting. The three attack from different positions, and you can switch between all of them. Clear the Ballas, find Lamar and fight your way back out with him.
-
2
Home
As Franklin, drive Lamar back to his house.
- Gold: kill 18 enemies with a headshot; finish with at least 70% accuracy; kill an enemy with all 3 characters; complete within 13:30.
Meltdown
It is the premiere of Solomon's film. The mission starts when Michael buys a tuxedo at Ponsonbys.
-
1
The red carpet
Get in the limousine with Jimmy and ride to the premiere, then walk the red carpet. Devin turns up and threatens Michael's family, and Michael races home.
-
2
Save the family
Merryweather men are in the house holding Amanda and Tracey. Shoot the hostage takers, clear the house and the men outside, and go back to the family.
- Gold: complete within 6:30; reach top speed in any vehicle; kill 12 enemies with a headshot; rescue Amanda and Tracey with a headshot.
Two of the guides say that afterwards Michael sends the family away from the house for a while.
Planning the Big Score
Michael, Franklin, Trevor and Lester meet at the Vanilla Unicorn to plan the robbery of the Union Depository. You pick an approach and a crew.
-
1
Subtle or Obvious
In the Subtle approach, the crew hijack the armoured trucks going into the depository, go in as guards and get the gold out in modified Gauntlets. Its setups are Stingers and three Gauntlet missions. In the Obvious approach, the crew drill into the vault while others cause a distraction out front, and the gold leaves by helicopter for a train. Its setups are Driller, Sidetracked and Getaway Vehicle.
-
2
The crew
Subtle: two gunmen, two drivers and a hacker. Obvious: two gunmen and two drivers, no hacker.
The number of drivers for Subtle differs: IGN’s planning page lists one driver, while the GTA Wiki crew page, GTABase and Eurogamer list two.
Subtle: a poor first gunman drops gold while loading the Gauntlets, and so does Karim if he is the first driver. Two of the guides add that Karim also gets caught at a roadblock, a casualty that costs a quarter of the take, and that the hacker sets how fast the traffic lights respond: no delay with Paige, 2 seconds with Christian, 4 with Rickie.
Obvious: two of the guides say that Karim as first driver crashes in the wind farm and half the take is lost, and that a poor second gunman is little help.
Stingers and Gauntlet (Subtle only)
-
1
Stingers
Lester texts about a police van carrying spike strips. Get over the wall, quietly knock out the officer guarding it, steal the van and drive it to the hiding place marked on the map.
- Gold: steal the van and escape within 2:00; deliver it with no damage.
-
2
Gauntlet
Lester emails the locations of three Gauntlets. Each is its own mission: steal the car, have it modified at Los Santos Customs, and deliver it.
- Gold (each car): deliver the Gauntlet pictured in the email; deliver it with no damage; spend $17,000 modifying it.
Driller, Sidetracked and Getaway Vehicle (Obvious only)
-
1
Driller
Lester texts that the drilling machine, a Cutter, is at a guarded depot in East Los Santos. Take out the guards quietly, steal it and drive it to the parking lot marked on the map.
- Gold: steal the Cutter without being detected; complete within 5:00.
-
2
Sidetracked
At the marked railway, knock out the workers, switch the tracks to divert the next train, then switch to the helicopter with a magnet and lift the engine and a flatbed carriage away to the airfield.
- Gold: complete within 4:30; steal the train without being detected.
-
3
Getaway Vehicle
Leave a car in the parking garage near the Union Depository, for the escape after the heist. Two of the guides recommend modifying it first, since it has to survive a heavy police chase.
The Big Score
Both versions start at the Vanilla Unicorn.
Subtle approach
-
1
The tunnel
Michael and Trevor go dressed as guards. Drive to the tunnel, drop the stinger in front of the two armoured trucks and pull away. Once the tyres burst, take the guards hostage; the crew change the tyres, and a guard named Casey rides along to get you in.
-
2
The vault and the lights
At the Union Depository, follow the manager down to the vault; the gold comes out on carts into the trucks. Drive off. Merryweather spot you, and play switches to Franklin, who works the traffic lights with the hacker to hold them back.
-
3
Under the bridge
The crew meet under a bridge to move the gold into the Gauntlets. Casey is paid off with $300,000. Merryweather arrive: stay in cover and switch between the three to clear them. Then escape in the Gauntlets with the police behind you. Two of the guides say the cars end up loaded onto trucks, and the mission ends at Michael's house.
- Gold: kill 20 enemies with a headshot; perform fewer than 10 traffic-light changes; finish with at least 60% accuracy.
Obvious approach
-
1
The drill
Michael drives to the Union Depository with a gunman to cause the distraction out front. Play switches to Franklin in the Cutter: drill through the wall into the vault, move the Cutter out of the way, and blow the cage doors with sticky bombs.
-
2
NOOSE and the helicopters
A NOOSE team comes in as soon as the doors blow. Hold them off while the gunman moves the gold. Trevor arrives with the helicopters, the gold is hooked on, and a second wave arrives before they fly off with it.
-
3
The escape and the train
As Michael, fight out of the depository with the second gunman, shooting down the police helicopters, and meet Franklin. Get to the getaway car in the garage and lose a heavy wanted level. Back with Trevor, two of the guides describe Merryweather helicopters attacking and Lester shooting them down with rockets while you fly steady. Lower the gold onto the train's flatbed, then fly back to the airfield.
- Gold: complete within 16:00; kill 20 enemies with a headshot; finish with at least 60% accuracy; drop the gold onto the train within 30 seconds.
- Story trophy (either approach): The Big One! ("This ain't no dream no more").
Stretch Completion
After the heist comes the last choice of the story. It starts the next part.
✅ Before Moving On...
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 20 October 2026 against IGN’s GTA 5 walkthrough, GTABase’s mission pages, the GTA Wiki on Fandom (its mission pages and its heist crew page), Eurogamer’s story mission and gold medal checklist and its Big Score guide, and the trophy lists of Exophase and the GTA Wiki. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it, and what the sources do not describe is not on this page.