GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach (2025)

Looting the Union Depository Bank is a difficult task, and this GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide will help you plan the heist efficiently. This is one of the most important missions Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Philips pull together. The crew also includes Lester Crest and some other members, the latter of which we will discuss herein.

If you complete the heist, all three protagonists will become super rich. Therefore, this GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide will help you select the ideal options offered by the mission.

Note: Some parts of this GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide are subjective and reflect the writer’s opinions. The article contains direct spoilers about the mission(s).

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GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide: A brief overview of the journey

Readers of the GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide should plan their journey after knowing the important details (Image via Rockstar Games)

Once you've completed the Meltdown mission as Michael De Santa, the game will unlock the Planning the Big Score mission. You should see a big H marker near the Vanilla Unicorn strip club on the map. The mission can be triggered by any one of the three protagonists, and the H marker (along with all other markers related to the mission) will appear in all three respective colors:

• Blue for Michael De Santa
• Green for Franklin Clinton
• Orange for Trevor Philips

Visit the location to start the cutscene and get started with the process. Lester Crest will give you the following two approaches to execute the robbery:

• Subtle
• Obvious

The GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide advises you to select the Obvious approach, at least for the first playthrough. If you have created a save file after the Meltdown mission, you can always come back and do the heist using the Subtle approach. Here, we'll focus on and discuss the Obvious approach and the best options to choose for the gameplay.

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Understanding the Obvious approach of The Big Score mission in GTA 5

GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide readers should be ready for some intense action in this approach (Image via Rockstar Games)

The Obvious approach leads to an action-packed mission where you hit the Union Depository Bank with direct full force.

Franklin Clinton will dig an underground hole to access the bank's gold storage directly and steal the loot. Michael De Santa will be at the front of the bank fighting law enforcement. Trevor Philips will operate a helicopter to airlift the gold (after Franklin brings them out of the vault) and deliver it to the designated train.

Readers of this GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide should note that the Obvious approach is the most profitable way to loot the Union Depository Bank, as it will reward them a total of $201,600,000. Each of the three protagonists will get around $41,000,000 later on. You can follow the GTA 5 Stock Market Guide to increase the value even more.

Knowing the strategies for the GTA 5 The Big Score best payout is important (Image via Rockstar Games)

After selecting the Obvious approach, Lester Crest will ask Michel De Santa to choose two drivers and two gunmen. Here are all the members and some important details readers of this GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide should know:

List of all the available drivers:

• Eddie Toh: Takes a 14% cut. Suitable for first or second driver.
• Taliana Martinez: Takes a 5% cut. Suitable for first or second driver.
• Karim Denz: Takes an 8% cut. If chosen as the first driver, he will crash into the wind farm, and you will lose half the loot.

List of all the available gunmen:

• Gustavo Mota: Takes a 14% cut. Suitable as the first or second gunman.
• Packie McReary: Takes a 12% cut. Suitable as the first or second gunman.
• Chef: Takes a 12% cut. Suitable as the first or second gunman.
• Karl Abolaji: Takes an 8% cut. Not suitable as the second gunman.
• Norm Richards: Takes a 7% cut. Not suitable as the second gunman.
• Hugh Welsh: Takes a 7% cut. Not suitable as the second gunman.
• Daryl Johns: Takes a 6% cut. Not suitable as the second gunman.

Select the following crew members to compose the GTA 5 The Big Score best team:

• Driver 1: Taliana Martinez (5% cut)
• Driver 2: Karim Denz (8% cut)
• Gunman 1: Daryl Johns (6% cut)
• Gunman 2: Norm Richards (7% cut)

Choosing these members will not only be helpful for your mission, but they will also take less away from your profit. Once the crew members are confirmed, Lester Crest will assign you the following three setup missions before the GTA 5 The Big Score mission:

• Driller
• Sidetracked
• Getaway Vehicle

These heist setup missions can be done by any of the three protagonists in any order.

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Details about the Driller setup mission for GTA 5 The Big Score heist

The GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide readers should try to steal the driller using stealth (Image via Rockstar Games)

The Driller setup mission spawns in East Lost Santos with an HS marker on the map. Lester Crest will text you about the arrival of the HVY Cutter loaded into the semi-truck. Your job is to steal and deliver it to the parking lot near the Union Depository Bank.

While the mission sounds simple, this GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide advises you to do the first part of the mission with a stealthy approach. Before getting into the semi truck, kill the guards and other workers nearby. This will not only make getting into the vehicle easy, but you will also not get a wanted level.

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Details about the Sidetracked setup mission for GTA 5 The Big Score heist

The GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide readers must steal a train in this mission (Image via Rockstar Games)

In the Sidetracked setup mission, you have to grand theft a train from the tracks in Blaine County. Head toward the Davis Quartz mining site, and you should see an HS marker on the map indicating the mission. Lester Crest should also give you a text as you approach the location.

When you reach the spot, take out the two workers using stealth methods. After that, this GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide advises you to go inside the cabin and divert the train toward the mining site. Once the train passes you, switch your character to Trevor Philips and bring the HVY Skylift to the train site.

This is a critical part, as you must airlift the freight train engine and one of the flatbed carriages using the magnets in the HVY Skylift helicopter. Readers of this GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide must go through the process one by one and deliver the train parts to a semi truck in the Sandy Shores Airfield.

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Details about the Getaway Vehicle setup mission for GTA 5 The Big Score heist

There are plenty of options for GTA 5 The Big Score best getaway car (Image via Rockstar Games)

Rockstar Games gives you some liberty to choose the getaway vehicle for The Big Score mission in Grand Theft Auto 5. However, you must follow these conditions while choosing the vehicle:

• Must be a land vehicle.
• Must be a four-seater car.
• Cannot use the protagonists’ personal vehicles.
• Cannot use service and emergency vehicles.

You can choose any NPC vehicle by following these conditions. However, the GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide advises you to go for fast four-seater vehicles, especially SUVs. Here are 10 suggested vehicles you can use for the purpose:

• Dewbauchee Exemplar - 117.50 mph or 189.10 km/h
• Karin Sultan - 116.25 mph or 187.09 km/h
• Übermacht Oracle - 115.50 mph or 185.88 km/h
• Enus Huntley S - 109.00 mph or 175.42 km/h
• Gallivanter Baller II - 108.50 mph or 174.61 km/h
• Obey Rocoto - 107.75 mph or 173.41 km/h
• Vapid Radius - 105.50 mph or 169.79 km/h
• Fathom FQ 2 - 104.00 mph or 167.37 km/h
• Declasse Granger - 102.75 mph or 165.36 km/h
• Benefactor Dubsta 2 - 102.00 mph or 164.15 km/h

The getaway car will help you evade law enforcement after GTA 5 The Big Score mission (Image via Rockstar Games)

Once you spot any of these or other four-seater vehicles, steal it. While you can directly call Lester Crest and assign the car as a getaway vehicle, the GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide advises you to upgrade it first.

Drive the vehicle to any of the Los Santos Customs garages and fully customize it. Only opt for the performance upgrades, such as engine, brakes, and bulletproof tires, and skip the cosmetic upgrades. The vehicle will be used only once, so applying cosmetic upgrades is simply a waste of money.

Upon exiting Los Santos Customs, call Lester Crest and inform him about the getaway vehicle. He will give you the location to store the car for the mission. After this, The Big Score heist should pop up on your map after some time.

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While the Obvious Approach is the best and suggested method, you may also choose to go through the Subtle Approach. This method is very slow at the beginning, but has action-packed sequences toward the climax. The GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide will give you some details about it as well.

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Brief details about the Subtle approach of The Big Score mission in GTA 5

The Subtle approach includes stealing, hacking, and gunfights to loot the Union Depository Bank (Image via Rockstar Games)

In the Subtle approach of GTA 5 The Big Score heist, Michael De Santa and Trevor Philips disguise themselves as Gruppe Sechs agents to enter the Union Depository through the backdoor and take out the loot without making the bank employees suspect them. At the other end, Franklin Clinton, Lester Crest, and the hacker help them bring the loot to the secure location.

You can earn around $201,300,000 through this approach. However, the final payout may vary depending on the crew members and the consequences.

This GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide advises you to select two drivers, two gunmen, and a hacker for the mission. While the driver and gunman options remain the same, you should know the following details about the hackers:

• Paige Harris: Takes a 15% cut. Does her job well.
• Christian Feltz: Takes a 10% cut. Takes two seconds for the hacking process.
• Rickie Lukens: Takes a 4% cut. Takes two to four seconds for the hacking process.

GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide readers must choose the hacker carefully (Image via Rockstar Games)

The GTA 5 The Big Score best crew and approach guide advises you to select the following for the Subtle approach:

• Gunman 1: Packie McReary (12% cut)
• Gunman 2: Daryl Johns (6% cut)
• Driver 1: Taliana Martinez (5% cut)
• Driver 2: Karim Denz (8% cut)
• Hacker: Rickie Lukens (4% cut)

Once you confirm these, Lester Crest will give you the following two setup missions:

• Stingers: Steal a Declasse Police Transporter equipped with stingers and store it in the hiding place.
• Three Modified Gauntlets: Steal three Bravado Gauntlets, upgrade them, and store them in the lockup.

The gameplay patterns are the same as the Obvious approach and can be done by any of the protagonists. GTA 5 The Big Score best crew guide readers should note that Lester Crest will give the locations of the Gauntlets, and they must acquire those particular vehicles only.

Once you complete these two setup missions, the final heist marker should appear on your map after some time.

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