Three Leaf Clover

Three Leaf Clover is a mission in Grand Theft Auto IV given to Niko by Patrick McReary. During the mission, Packie, Niko, Michael and Packie's brother Derrick undertake a major heist at the Bank of Liberty branch in The Exchange, Algonquin.

Note: This mission can only be started from between 6:00am and 7:00pm

Description
Niko drives the group to the Bank of Liberty on Columbus Ave which is located in The Exchange, Algonquin. They rob the bank of $1 million and make their escape through the streets and subways of Chinatown, Algonquin. Packie is proud that he and his gang, including Niko, kept their heads and managed to get the money to split between themselves. Niko is awarded $250,000 at the end of the mission.

Mission objectives
In order to complete the mission the player must:
 * Go to the bank
 * Go down to the vault and get the money
 * Cover Packie and Derrick
 * Follow Packie and Derrick
 * Get to street level
 * Find a four door car and go to Packie's Ma's house

Preparation
Before the mission (as the player is driving around), Packie will SMS the player about wearing a smart suit and shoes from Perseus. The player must listen to him or the mission will not start. There's a bug - when already wearing suit and/or shoes when mission appears, it is needed to go to the player's safehouse, change clothes to "no suit & shoes" and change it back to suit & shoes. It is also recommended before this mission that you go to a weapon shop (or simply call Little Jacob for weapons) and stock up ammo (preferably Rifle), body armor, and grenades. When the player arrives at his house, they will meet Derrick McReary, Gerald McReary, and their friend Michael Keane. Gerald does not take lightly to Niko being involved in the family business and reminds Niko that Derrick has returned. After the cutscene, Packie tells Niko to get a car with four doors so they can all fit.



The heist
The player must find a vehicle with four door and drive to the Southern Algonquin branch of the Bank of Liberty. A cutscene will show Niko, Packie, Derrick, and Michael Keane threatening all the customers to get on the floor of the bank. Luis Fernando Lopez and Eugene Reaper lay on the ground whispering about Eugene having a gun on him and Luis telling him not to do anything. Derrick and Packie have an argument, giving Eugene the chance to shoot Michael and kill him. Packie and Derrick kill Eugene in retaliation. The team then blows up the vault door.

Head down into the vault as inquired and grab $1 million for the teammates. NOOSE and LCPD police officers arrive at the scene with helicopters and cars, prompting Packie to decide that they need to leave now with the money they have already collected.

Escape: Chinatown
Niko, Derrick, and Packie take cover at the front of the bank and begin to gun their way out of a five-star wanted level. Due to the heavy presence of heavily armed officers and vehicles, the player must be careful with their Health and Armor. There are roughly 16 standard cops spread out over the street. The best way to take these and other officers in this mission out is to throw bombs near several parked Police Patrol cars. The explosion from the cars will kill any nearby officers and knock others to the ground, and possibly ignite other cars. Any remaining officers are best dispatched by a shot to the head, especially so for the otherwise heavily-armored NOOSE officers.

Help the remaining teammates shoot their way through an alleyway, then gain protective cover and blind fire the 12 men of authority. The player should then proceed through three streets in Chinatown, but not before shooting a loaded cop car that obstructs their path to the three streets. The first street the player comes to will have two cars (one NOOSE and one normal police car) with 6 men in total. Get cover in a side alleyway, like Niko's teammates, and pick off the men with headshots to conserve ammunition. The second street has the most amount of cops in the level, so it is wise to take excellent cover, possibly behind a burnt out car. There are cops on fire exits above the streets, and several men on the ground, around 30 cops. The player can simply spray them with a Sub Machine Gun, to not to waste M4A1 bullets. The final street is the easiest as there are almost no men, and the player can quickly run across the street and into the alleyway ahead of schedule. There are several cops on the street, but as Niko's sprinting, it is unlikely they will hit you. The trio are trapped out in an open alleyway by a police helicopter and the team attempts to shoot it down. It stays hovering, leading Packie to save the crew by taking them into a subway station.

Escape: Subway
Two police officers are waiting for them down in the station. Packie and Derrick jet by them but the player is advised to shoot them down with a pistol headshot, or the player could just ignore them, as they will not follow the team down.

When the team enters the subway gates, there are two cops shooting at Packie and Derrick, the player must take them out with a quick headshot while they are standing still. The next part of the subway consists of killing four cops waiting for the group in cover behind some gates. After dealing with them, eight more NOOSE officers storm up the stairs. At this point, the player should aim to kill as many of them via headshot as possible, and taking cover if any are left, as they are very deadly in close proximity. There is a first-aid kit on a pillar here, which the player can use to get full health. The team goes down the steps and into the subway to escape. There are eight more cops across the tracks in a group. They are easily taken out by something such as the rocket launcher as they are close together and at safe distance, otherwise, the player could aim for the head as usual. When you get onto the tracks, 10 NOOSE officers try to follow the team. The player can kill them, however, it is advised to leave them ,as eventually Packie and Derrick make a run for it. The team flee through the subway tunnels, the player must be aware of metro trains which might cross the player's path. Being hit by a train leads to immediate death. Also note that the trains run on left track, instead of the right track as usual. So if Niko walks on the tracks, he should walk on the right-side track, so he can see trains approach. This is the final encounter with police until the player gets topside, all while Packie and Derrick argue about Michael's death, with Niko telling them to shut up. Eventually, Packie leads the team back to the surface via a maintenance entrance in Easton, by which time the wanted level has been reduced to only three stars, which is fortunate as the player's ammunition or health may be low.

Escape: Above ground by vehicle
Once outside, a parked Huntley Sport is available for the team to use. The objective now is to lose the wanted level, this can be done as normal. When they finally lose the police, Packie asks Niko to take him and his brother Derrick back to his Mom's house in Meadows Park, Dukes (on Savannah Avenue near the Monoglobe). On the way, Packie explains how they will split the money. Niko, Packie and Derrick get $250,000 each. The remaining $250,000 will be given to Michael's parents since he died during the heist.

On average, Niko, Packie and Derrick will kill about 100 cops, however it is possible to kill a relatively small amount of cops by ignoring some of them and going for less-lethal shots with others.

Liberty Tree Newspaper
"A daring raid on a downtown branch of the Bank of Liberty has left one robber dead along with multiple police and civilian casualties. The suspect has been identified as Michael Keane, a convicted felon from Dukes. Four men wearing suits and balaclavas entered the branch and held the customers hostage while blowing the door to the vault with explosives. In the confusion, brave customer Eugene Reaper attempted to stop the robbery and was murdered in cold blood. Three robbers left the bank on foot and fought their way through police before escaping on the subway. Authorities are questioning all known associates of Mr. Keane in an attempt to discover the identities of his accomplices. The Bank of Liberty estimates that in excess of half a million dollars was stolen."

After the Mission

 * Following successful completion of this mission, Gerald McReary will call Niko and ask to see him in Dukes.
 * Packie later calls Niko to open the mission string for Derrick McReary.
 * The terrorist threat separating both sides of the West River is lifted, opening up the Booth Tunnel and Hickey Bridge. Niko is able to travel to Alderney legally, with the entire map now open to the player.
 * This will also unlock the Full Exploration achievement on the Xbox 360, or PC version or, if the PlayStation 3 version is being played, the player receives the Full Exploration trophy.
 * Shortly after this mission Packie will call Niko and be added as a friend.
 * The balaclava is now added to Niko's wardrobe.
 * After this mission, all weapons in gun stores around the city will be available for purchase, except the RPG and Desert Eagle.

Deaths

 * Michael Keane - Killed by Eugene Reaper in an attempt to intercept the robbery.
 * Eugene Reaper - Killed by Packie and Derrick as a revenge for killing Michael Keane.
 * Several LCPD and NOOSE officers - Killed by Niko, Packie, and Derrick for trying to stop them from escaping with the stolen money.
 * Luis Lopez (optional) - Once the cutscene of the police arriving the bank ends, Niko can kill Luis. This does not affect the storyline and he will be respawned in the mission Museum Piece. This was most likely an oversight since he is not supposed to die in the mission.
 * Hostages (optional) - A couple of hostages can be killed in this mission though it is unlikely that this is canon. More than three hostages will likely fail the mission though, meaning that it is canon that if any hostages were killed, it was very few.

Trivia

 * About gameplay:
 * This mission cannot be played at night. Other missions like this would be Bernie Crane's missions.
 * If Packie, Derrick, or Michael die before they reach the bank, the mission will fail immediately and the surviving two characters will wander off into the street. They will then act like any pedestrian, smoking, drinking, or sitting on benches. However if they exit the player's vision, they will disappear.
 * If too many hostages are killed, the mission will fail. However, after the cutscene where Niko steals the money, the player can kill hostages without failing the mission.
 * If Niko shoots at the cash in the vault, the mission will fail immediately.
 * Unlike in "Waste Not Want Knots" at the start, when Michael is alive, they do not shoot at police or any other threat that will hurt you, or themselves. This could be due to the fact that in "Waste Not Want Knots", they had to make the characters attack because there's no cutscene. However, in this mission, there's a cutscene that allows Rockstar to change the behavior of Packie, and Derrick.
 * Once Dwayne becomes a good friend, you can call him to send backup. This comes in the form of two gangsters that will follow you through thick and thin and shoot at your enemies. Even if they don't take out many targets, they create a great diversion that takes the focus of enemy fire off you. Give it a try; this is a great mission to phone in a favor.
 * If the player chooses to shoot down the Annihilator, like Niko suggests, it will explode, despite being very close to the ground. This was likely done to prevent the player from obtaining it.
 * The five-star wanted level that Niko gains after the robbery is permanent until it is reduced near the end of the mission. It cannot be removed even by using cheats, calling Francis McReary or Kiki Jenkins's clear wanted level skill, or fleeing the borough. It is also not possible to get six-star wanted level because it locked on five-star during robbery.
 * If Niko dies during the mission, his bag of money will rip open and a large amount of bills will fly out.
 * If Derrick or Packie are killed during the mission, Niko's balaclava will disappear and he will throw down his M4, similarly to the way he throws away an empty weapon.
 * If Derrick or Packie get killed on the way back to their mom's house one of them might drop you off there in a beige-brownish Moonbeam thus failing the mission.
 * About story:
 * This is the first appearance of Derrick McReary and Gerald McReary. Luis Lopez from The Ballad Of Gay Tony makes one of his three GTA IV guest appearances in this mission.
 * During the trip to the bank, the group plans for each robber to take down a security guard. Despite this, there aren't any security guards at the bank.
 * During the mission, Derrick will say things like "It's like being back in The Troubles" or "I haven't seen combat like this since Belfast". This might indicate that Derrick fought in Belfast with the IRA.
 * While Niko is going inside the vault, you can hear Derrick say "Keep your eyes on the floor!" or "We're nearly done here, keep calm people!"
 * Like Hostile Negotiation, Niko has many taunts only used in this mission, including "You don't want to get in my way.", "I ain't going to jail in this country", "Go back home to your kids. You don't wanna die here", "I'm fighting for this cash", "I ain't giving up this money", "Back off. The money's ours now.", "We just made a withdrawal, what's the problem?", "There ain't no reason to get in my way", "You don't wanna die for the bank's cash.", and "I got plans for this money, I ain't dropping it.".
 * The amount of money stolen is $1 million (and the reward is $250,000 each for each of the four robbers, it is implied Michael's share is given to his parents). However, the Liberty Tree website states that $500,000 was stolen.
 * Niko is awarded $250,000 at the end of the mission; this reward, along with the reward given from If the Price is Right and Out of Commission  is the highest reward available in GTA IV.
 * If the player calls Roman after completing the mission, Roman will tell Niko how he heard about the robbery and mentions that it's shame that Niko wasn't involved. Niko tells him that he was, much to Roman's surprise.
 * This mission is seen again in both DLCs. During the credits of The Lost and Damned, at the very end, Niko, Packie, and Derrick, after getting the money, blast outside and start killing the cops on the street. The explosion of a vehicle going up in the air signifies the end of the credits. In The Ballad of Gay Tony, the mission is actually the opening cutscene of the game.
 * Bugs & errors:
 * During the trip to the bank, Packie says that Michael and Niko will rig the safe. However, later on during the trip, Packie says that Niko and Derick will rig the safe while he and Michael will "take care of the kids".
 * At the start of the mission, the gang is armed with AK-47s, but during the cutscene Niko and Michael have M4s, Packie has a Pump-Action Shotgun, and Derrick has a Pistol. After the cutscene, Derrick and Packie have AK-47s and Niko has an M4 unless you use the poor weapons cheat to use an AK-47.
 * In the PlayStation 3 and PC versions, after the cutscene where Eugene Reaper is shot, if the player examines the floor by Luis Lopez they can see that Eugene is still alive with his hands on his head; instead, there is a dead fat bearded man beside them.
 * In the cutscene in which the police arrive at the bank, you can see policemen without pistols (just holding their hands and arms like if they were aiming) alongside other cops. Despite of this all the cops during the gameplay are armed.
 * Although there are two bags in the vault, Niko comes out with three.
 * When Niko makes his way back up with the bags of money, he sits the two down on the floor. Once that small cutscene is over, it will appear that Derrick and Packie already have the bags on them.
 * Reference:
 * The mission's name is a reference to the fact that in Ireland, four leaf clovers are considered lucky. Unfortunately, while there are initially four robbers, Michael is killed, leaving just three.
 * The outfits the group wears during this mission (suits with balaclavas), the weapon Niko uses (an M4A1), the large black bags of money slung over your back and the general setup of the mission is an obvious homage to the 1995 film Heat, in which Robert De Niro and his henchmen rob a bank in similar fashion, including a subsequent run-and-gun shootout in the surrounding city streets of Downtown L.A. In both heists a member of the gang named Michael dies.
 * The mission also references the 1991 film Point Break; during a bank robbery in that movie, one of the hostages (a plain-clothes police officer, as opposed to a gun club member in the game) decides to take down the robbers, succeeding in killing one of the crooks but ultimately leading to their own death. In both the movie and the game, the would-be hero also discusses their plan with a neighboring hostage, a security guard in Point Break, Luis Fernando Lopez in GTA IV.
 * About PE4 which Derrick mention by (referenced from Wikipedia): "The British military uses a very similar plastic explosive known as PE4. Like C4, it is an off-white colored solid and its explosive characteristics are nearly identical to C4. The type and proportion of plasticizer used differs, and PE4 has a slightly greater velocity of detonation, 8,210 m/s (26,900 ft/s)".
 * The part about the PE4 might be a reference to how some people ignore what an item's name in-game is, and instead call it by it's general name. As an example, instead of calling the Assault Rifle by it's in-game name (Assault Rifle), some players just call it the AK-47.
 * Related to TBoGT:
 * The storyline for TBoGT starts from this mission on a Saturday afternoon.
 * The mission is seen again in the final DLC The Ballad of Gay Tony. This time, it is the opening cutscene of the DLC, which starts where Eugene and Luis talking while lying down. Like commonly believed, Luis was there to pick up money for &quot;Gay&quot; Tony Prince.
 * According to the cutscene in I Luv LC, Niko wore the Perseus Charcoal Suit for the heist with black loafers. This remains true in even in the PC version, in which the suit and shoes are not available.
 * When Luis leaves the bank after it's robbed in the introduction of TBoGT, Niko, Packie, and Derrick almost hit Luis in the crosswalk, although this does not at all happen in the original GTA IV. Even if the player goes to the exact same spot Luis will not be spotted. This is likely because the plots for the two DLC's had not been written at the time this mission was created.
 * In the mission, after leaving the subway there will be a Huntley Sport provided as the escape vehicle for Niko, Packie and Derrick. However in the opening cutscene in TBoGT they are driving a Presidente and (as mentioned above) nearly hit Luis with it. Note that the Huntley used in the mission is unique for being the only Huntley with an alarm system.
 * In TBoGT you discover that Packie spent his share of the money from the heist on a red Comet.
 * In TBoGT, Eugene Reaper stands up when he shoots Michael. But in Grand Theft Auto IV, he is kneeling. This possibly refers to police getting different stories from witnesses at crime scenes, as Niko saw him kneeling but Luis saw him standing up.
 * When Eugene Reaper is killed in this mission, Patrick and Derrick shoot him, but in I Luv LC, only Packie shoots him.
 * When Eugene Reaper tells Luis Lopez his plan to kill Michael and asks Luis what his name is, Luis' dialogue in "I Luv LC" is different from his dialogue in "Three Leaf Clover". In "Three Leaf Clover", when Reaper asks Luis what his name is, he says, "Luis... but this ain't such a good idea bro." In "I Luv LC", Luis says, "It's Luis, man. I don't think that's such a good idea."
 * In "I Luv LC", after both Michael Keane and Eugene Reaper are killed and the bank vault blows up, you can see a bunch of smoke and you can hear a woman crying, but in "Three Leaf Clover", when both Keane and Reaper are killed and the bank vault blows up, you don't see any smoke and you don't hear a woman crying.
 * Related to GTA V:
 * Rockstar Games has stated in a GameInformer issue that the bank heist theme for this mission will be one of the main themes for Grand Theft Auto V.
 * This mission is often referenced in Grand Theft Auto V. For instance, if one hires Packie as a gunman for the Paleto heist, he shares a detailed overview of the mission, from how Michael Keane was shot, the overwhelming LCPD force, to how they had to enter the subway tunnels to escape. The impact of Three Leaf Clover seemed to have spread nation-wide, as Michael De Santa mentions that he was aware about the bank job in Liberty City and that he was stunned at the fact that Packie was one of the bank robbers.
 * Reception of this mission by fans has shown that robbery missions are very popular; many fans cite it as their favorite mission in the game. Rockstar claim that the popularity of the mission brought to light the idea of the heist-centred storyline in GTA V.

Navigation
Three Leaf Clover Three Leaf Clover Three Leaf Clover