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Becoming a mastermind criminal is a tough job. Therefore this GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide will help you understand the challenge and unlock the Criminal Mastermind award. Rockstar Games introduced it as part of the Grand Theft Auto Online: Heists DLC update. It is one of the toughest challenges in the multiplayer game and is certainly not for casual players.
However, once you achieve it, Rockstar Games will reward you handsomely, making the grind worth it. The GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide will provide an outline of the entire Criminal Mastermind Challenge and provide you with important tips to make the journey easier.
Note: Some parts of this GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide are subjective and only reflect the writer’s opinions. The article contains spoilers about various missions.
GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide: An overview of the entire journey
Rockstar Games defines the Criminal Mastermind challenge as follows:
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“Complete all heist setups and finales in order, on hard difficulty, with the same team, and without losing any lives: $10,000,000 bonus.”
Here “all heists” refer to the five OG heist missions that you can do from your apartment. They are as follows (in chronological order):
- The Fleeca Job
- The Prison Break
- The Humane Labs Raid
- Series A Funding
- The Pacific Standard
The studio also outlined the following conditions that the GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide readers should properly understand:
- All five heists must be played on hard difficulty. The default difficulty is normal. You must change it to hard.
- Your crew must be the same for all the heists and their setup missions. Replacing players in the middle of the journey will cancel the challenge progress.
- No player must lose their life at any point during the missions. Whether it is a heist finale or a setup mission, the host and the crew must not die under any circumstances. Dying during freeroam will not hamper the challenge progress.
These are some of the toughest conditions to keep, considering the journey is very long. Therefore, the GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide would like to suggest the following things:
- Find three other Grand Theft Auto 5 Online players that you know personally and are skilled enough to complete the challenge with you. Doing the journey with strangers is not a very bright idea in this regard.
- All the players must be level 120 and above. While you can do the challenge at lower levels, reaching level 120 unlocks all the features and benefits the game has to offer.
- The host must have played through all five apartment heists at least once. There is no issue in embarking on the Criminal Mastermind Challenge during the first run. But, experiencing the entire journey at least once will help you during difficult situations.
- Since you will be fighting with enemy NPCs most of the time, the GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide advises you to buy and upgrade an armored and weaponized vehicle (such as Karin Kuruma Armored or HVY Insurgent Pick-Up Custom). All players also must travel in the same car to save time.
- The host player must also own a high-end apartment listed on the Dynasty 8 website. Rockstar Games offers 35 high-end apartments, with prices ranging from $200,000 to $1,100,000.
Now, the GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide will briefly discuss all five apartment heists and their setup missions.
Also read: GTA Online vehicles guide
A brief overview of The Fleeca Job in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online
- Total players required: Two
- Setup cost: $11,500
- Hard mode potential loot amount: $250,250
- Total missions: Two setups + Finale
The Fleeca Job is the first apartment heist that you must complete by following the conditions mentioned above. This heist is given by Lester Crest, in which he asks you to rob the Fleeca Bank branch on the Great Ocean Highway. However, the GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide readers must do the following two setup missions first:
- Fleeca Job - Scope Out: Travel with Lester Crest to scope out the targeted Fleeca Bank branch. After that, rendezvous with Paige Harris and go to your apartment to discuss further about your job.
- Fleeca Job - Kuruma: Steal the getaway car (Karin Kuruma Armored) for the job. It is located in a parking lot in Del Perro. Store the car near the Darnell Bros. garment factory.
During the finale (The Fleeca Job), the GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide readers must pick up the getaway car, drive to the Fleeca Bank, hack the bank security measurements, loot the vault items, and flee from the cops.
Also read: GTA 5 weapons guide
A brief overview of The Prison Break heist in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online
- Total players required: Four
- Setup cost: $25,000
- Hard mode potential reward amount: $875,000
- Total missions: Four setups + Finale
The Prison Break is the second apartment heist in GTA Online where you will have to infiltrate the Bolingbroke Penitentiary in Grand Senora Desert and retrieve Professor Maxim Rashkovsky alive. The GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide readers must note that the penitentiary is a highly secured area and the cops can kill you within seconds if you are not careful enough.
The following are the setup missions and their objectives before the finale:
- Prison Break - Plane: Steal a Jobuilt Velum 5-seater plane from the McKenzie airfield. Professor Maxim Rashkovsky will use it to flee from the country during the finale.
- Prison Break - Bus: Steal a prison bus which you will use to go inside the Bolingbroke Penitentiary during the finale.
- Prison Break - Station: Break into the Mission Row Police Station to steal a prisoner transfer schedule. Steal Professor Maxim Rashkovsky’s Lampadati Casco sports car from the Jetsam Terminal and deliver it to the drop-off location.
- Prison Break - Wet Work: Assassinate three targets related to Professor Maxim Rashkovsky’s case.
During the finale (The Prison Break), all four players must work cordially to break Professor Maxim Rashkovsky out of prison and help him flee from the country. For more elaborate details, about the mission, you can check out the GTA Online Prison Break Heist guide.
A brief overview of The Humane Labs Raid heist in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online
- Total players required: Four
- Setup cost: $25,000
- Hard mode potential reward amount: $1,181,500
- Total missions: Five setups + Finale
The Humane Labs Raid is the third apartment heist in GTA Online where you will reunite with an old Grand Theft Auto series character Karen Daniels (Niko Bellic’s first and former girlfriend). She will ask you to infiltrate the Humane Labs and Research facility (controlled by Merryweather Security Consulting) and steal important data from their computers.
However, the GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide readers must do the following setup missions before the finale:
- Humane Raid - Key Codes: Meet Karen Daniels and acquire some keycodes of the Humane Labs facility.
- Humane Raid - Insurgents: Steal two HVY Insurgent vehicles from Merryweather Security to use in the upcoming missions.
- Humane Raid - EMP: Steal an Electromagnetic Pulse device from an aircraft carrier to shut down power at Humane Labs.
- Humane Raid - Valkyrie: Steal a Buckingham Valkyrie helicopter from Merryweather Security to use during the finale.
- Humane Raid - Deliver EMP: Park the EMP-fitted HVY Insurgents inside the Humane Labs and Research facility without alerting anyone.
During the final mission (The Humane Labs Raid), the four players will be divided into two teams: ground and air. Both teams must work cordially to infiltrate the Humane Labs and Research facility, steal the required data, and hand it over to Karen Daniels.
The GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide readers should keep in mind that since the facility belongs to Merryweather, it will attack you during the heist. For more elaborate details about the mission, we suggest you check out the GTA Online The Humane Labs Raid guide.
A brief overview of the Series A Funding heist in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online
- Total players required: Four
- Setup cost: $25,000
- Hard mode potential reward amount: $883,750
- Total missions: Five setups + Finale
The Series A Funding is the fourth apartment heist in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online. It is a special mission for GTA fans as it brings Trevor Philips to the multiplayer game. The entire job is an expansion of the operations of Trevor Philips Industries, where you help the popular protagonist loot items from his rival organizations.
Rockstar Games provides the following five setup missions for the Series A Funding heist in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online:
- Series A - Coke: Steal eight packs of Coke from a yacht and deliver them to the Trevor Philips Industries warehouse.
- Series A - Trash Truck: Dress as trash collectors and steal 14 trash bags filled with molly pills, originally scheduled for the Los Santos Vagos gang.
- Series A - Bikers: Infiltrate The Lost Motorcycle Club’s hideout in stealth, kill the guards, and steal two cocaine-filled vans for Trevor Philips Industries.
- Series A - Weed: Ambush the Paleto Forest Sawmill controlled by the Vagos gang and steal their trucks filled with weed.
- Series A - Steal Meth: Steal a tanker filled with meth ingredients from the O'Neil Brothers and deliver it to Trevor Philips Industries meth lab.
During the final mission (Series A Funding), the GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide readers must be prepared to fight with all the gangs from whom Trevor Philips acquired the aforementioned items. All four players must protect themselves and the protagonist, and help the latter to transport his products to the El Gordo Lighthouse in Cape Catfish, Blaine County.
For more elaborate details about this mission, you can check out the GTA Online Series A Funding guide.
A brief overview of The Pacific Standard heist in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online
- Total players required: Four
- Setup cost: $25,000
- Hard mode potential reward amount: $1,875,000
- Total missions: Five setups + Finale
The Pacific Standard job is the fifth and last apartment heist in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online. Lester Crest re-appears in this mission to help you loot the Pacific Standard Public Deposit Bank in Downtown Vinewood. However, before that, you must first complete the following five setup missions:
- Pacific Standard - Vans: Photograph up to four Post OP Boxvilles to find the one carrying a transponder. Deliver it to the Darnell Bros. garment factory.
- Pacific Standard - Signal: Retrieve Avi Schwartzman from an island hideout and bring him to Paige Harris safely. Avi will work on the transponder for the mission.
- Pacific Standard - Hack: Fool an NPC heist crew and steal a hacking rig from them to use in the mission.
- Pacific Standard - Convoy: Ambush a Merryweather convoy carrying thermal charges on a truck. Kill the guards and steal the truck.
- Pacific Standard - Bikes: Steal four Principe Lectro motorcycles from The Lost Motorcycle Club to use as getaway vehicles.
The GTA Online Criminal Mastermind guide readers should note that these missions are action-packed and the enemies can kill you instantly if you let your guard down.
Nonetheless, during the finale (The Pacific Standard Job), you must ambush the Pacific Standard Public Deposit Bank in Downtown Vinewood. One team must keep the hostages terrified and the other one must loot the vault. Once the job is done, exit the bank, fight with the cops, and make your way through the exit point without getting killed.
Completing all these missions (with the aforementioned conditions fulfilled) will unlock the “Criminal Mastermind” achievement. Rockstar Games will also reward the host player with a solid $10,000,000 bonus.
Also read: GTA 5 Online Cayo Perico heist guide
