How to recruit in GTA San Andreas

GTA San Andreas players can learn how to recruit quickly, but it depends on their platform.

GTA Vice City allowed players to recruit a few bodyguards after they achieved 100% completion. GTA San Andreas expanded on this concept and made it substantially more accessible to the general public. For starters, players don't need 100% completion to recruit other gang members.

The number of people that the player can recruit to follow them depends on their Respect stat. At the bare minimum, CJ can recruit two Grove Street Families members. At the maximum level, he can recruit seven of them. It's vital to note that this feature only applies to Grove Street Families NPCs.

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How to recruit a GSF NPC in GTA San Andreas

CJ can recruit up to seven GSF members if he has a high enough Respect stat (Image via Rockstar Games)

Mobile players have to aim at a Grove Street Family NPC and tap on the button that looks like two fists bumping against one another.

PlayStation and Xbox players need to aim at the same NPCs and press up on the D-pad.

PC players aim at the Grove Street Families members and press "G" to recruit them. They can tell whom they're aiming at by seeing the green triangle above the NPC's head.

Gang commands

Gang members can also take pictures for CJ (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA San Andreas players can also tell their allies to stay put or follow them once recruited. Mobile players can press the button that looks like a speech button with an arrow to make them follow the player. Likewise, pressing on the hand button will make them wait.

Console players use the D-pad to do something similar. Up on the D-pad makes the NPCs follow the player, whereas down on the D-pad makes them wait in place.

PC players press "G" to make the gang follow them. Likewise, pressing "H" makes them wait in place.

GTA San Andreas players can also have one of the recruited gang members take a picture with CJ. Equip the camera, and stand next to one of the recruited NPCs. A prompt should pop up, indicating what the player should do next.

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Respect

GTA San Andreas players gain Respect for completing missions (Image via Rockstar Games)

Respect is everything. It might have been a GTA 2 motto, but it still applies to how many Grove Street Families members the player can recruit in GTA San Andreas.

Respect	How many NPCs CJ can recruit
>1%	2
>10%	3
>20%	4
>40%	5
>60%	6
>80%	7

Several factors impact how much Respect CJ has at any given moment. The most obvious way to increase a player's Respect is to complete missions. However, that isn't the only way to improve it.

A muscular CJ with better clothes will have a higher Respect stat than a fat CJ with no muscle definition wearing the default outfit. Gaining and losing territories also impacts how much Respect the player has. It's important to note that the player can lose Respect in GTA San Andreas.

Killing drug dealers and rival gang members also slightly improves it. Killing or letting GSF members die will lower it.

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Recruit cheat codes

CJ recruiting an NPC with the "recruit anybody with a Pistol" cheat code (Image via Rockstar Games)

Cheat codes that involve recruiting anybody into the gang still follow most of the same rules. GTA San Andreas players recruit them in the same method and can tell them to halt or follow at any moment.

The "recruit anybody with a Pistol/Rocket Launcher/AK-47" cheats all work similarly.