Gang territories in Los Santos, viewable after the mission Doberman.
Gang Warfare is a gameplay feature in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and plays a large role in both the beginning and ending stages of the game.
Description[]
The ability to take over, defend, and even potentially lose gang territory is unlocked after completing the mission Doberman. At Sweet's urging, Carl begins to focus on the expansion of the Grove Street Families across Los Santos. Attempting to push out the rival Ballas and Vagos, Carl can take over each neighborhood one by one until the rival gangs are eliminated.
After completing the mission The Green Sabre, this feature is temporarily unavailable until Carl returns to Los Santos with Sweet during the mission Home Coming.
There is a total of 57 gang territories in Los Santos. The Grove Street Families will need to control at least 35%, or 20 territories, before the final mission becomes available.
Taking Over Enemy Territory[]
Once the feature is unlocked, the player can see the areas under gang control by using the map. Neighborhoods colored green are Grove Street Families' territories, those colored purple are Ballas', and those colored yellow are Vagos'. To take over an enemy gang's territory, the player must kill at least three gang members in a short period of time while on foot in an enemy area. If successful, a gang war will begin, with three increasingly difficult waves of enemies to defeat. The difficulty depends on the gang's density in that area, visible on the map. Heavily-defended territories are colored in a darker shade of the respective gang's color, while poorly-defended areas are lightly shaded. Starting a gang war will not clear the player's wanted level, but it will prevent the wanted level from increasing further, meaning it's safe to kill any police officers attacking Carl until the gang war is over.
The first wave of enemies will carry weaker weapons: Baseball Bats, Pistols, and Micro SMGs. In more heavily-defended territories, there may be a few enemies carrying SMGs. Starting with the second wave, more powerful weapons will be brought to the fight; Micro SMGs in lightly-defended areas, SMGs and AK-47s in tougher hoods. The third wave is the most dangerous, as it consists mainly of enemies carrying AK-47s, while a few will still be carrying SMGs. Carl can easily be overwhelmed and wasted very quickly if not careful.
During a gang war, health pickups will spawn immediately, and body armor pickups will spawn after the first wave is defeated. These can be found scattered on the streets in the area being contested, and will despawn 60 seconds after the gang war is over. Using these strategically in tougher areas may mean the difference between taking over or losing a neighborhood. It should be noted that one enemy gang member out of every wave can be ignored if they wander too far away from the player.
The spawning of enemy groups can be somewhat controlled by using the player's view. Enemy waves will usually only spawn out of the player's field-of-vision, and only if there is large enough area to do so. Keeping this in mind, the player can use this to their advantage and plan their defense accordingly. Keeping the camera focused perpendicular to the street (on a building or wall, for example) usually causes two groups to spawn on either side of Carl, flanking him and making the wave more difficult to overcome.
In larger and more heavily-defended territories, a gang car may spawn with two enemies inside. It will patrolling the area, and the passenger will perform a drive-by on Carl if he gets too close. These vehicles do not have to be defeated as part of the wave, and will usually drive out of the neighborhood and despawn on their own.
| A Ballas-controlled hood. | A gang war has been started. | The hood under GSF control. |
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After defeating all three waves of defenders, the territory will be under Grove Street Families' control, and will be marked green. GSF members can now be found on the streets and will help defend the newly-gained hood. If Carl is wasted during the second or third wave, the territory is marked grey and will be disputed between GSF and the controlling gang. To fully control a neighborhood, all 3 waves must be successfully defeated.
Varrios Los Aztecas Territories[]
After completing the mission Home Coming but before starting Los Desperados, there are 4 Varrios Los Aztecas areas in El Corona and Little Mexico that can be temporarily put under GSF control. These neighborhoods have been taken over by the Vagos during the events of the story and are given back to the VLA after successfully completing the latter mission, and cannot be acquired afterwards. These do not count towards the total number of territories needed for the Ain't Nothing But a G Thing achievement/trophy.
Defending Your Territory[]
Periodically, rival gangs will attack GSF hoods in an attempt to take them back under control. When this occurs, an icon will be placed on the map and the area will flash red, just as if a gang war was initiated. Only one territory can be under attack at a time, and only a territory adjacent to an enemy gang can be attacked. Three gang cars and 8-12 gang members will spawn on Carl's arrival armed with various weapons including the shotgun, which not only causes high damage but also stuns Carl, leaving him vulnerable to attacks from other enemies.
Health and body armor pickups will spawn in the area as well, and should be taken advantage of for a successful defense.
There is a time limit of approximately five minutes to defend the contested area against the attacking gang. If the player ignores the attack, the hood will be lost, leading to a drop in respect. There are two small exploits one can use to quickly and safely "cancel" an attack if desired; saving the game using a save pickup, or starting a vehicle sub-mission (Paramedic, Vigilante, etc.). Being wasted or busted before arriving at the attacked territory will also cancel the invasion, as long as the attacking gang members have not yet spawned.
Once all territories are successfully placed under GSF control, no more attacks will occur.
Oversights[]
- Normally only the intended 57 marked territories are able to be attacked and taken over. However, there is a glitch through which more than this number can be "added" to the entire San Andreas map, resulting in the gang war activity expanding to include the whole state.
- Satchel charges can be used to take over neighborhoods not normally available during regular play. Once a GSF hood is under attack from an enemy gang, stick the charges to four or more enemies. Lure them outside of the attack zone and into a territory that is not controlled by any gangs (if this is done in a territory already belonging to the Ballas or Vagos it won't work, while if it is done in a weak GSF territory, it will increase the gang influence in that zone). Once the charges are detonated, the attacked zone will be defended and the territory currently occupied by Carl will be controlled by the GSF.
- There is another glitch that allows the player to lose a territory that is not under attack. To perform it, they need to wait for an attack to start and quickly go to a territory belonging to the Ballas or Vagos, then provoke four or more gang members and make them follow Carl to a Families territory. Once there, they should kill them all and wait for the attack to end. If done correctly, the player will have lost a territory other than the one that was attacked.
- Gang wars initiated along the Santa Maria Beach have a chance to spawn waves of enemies underwater. Since Carl cannot shoot through water, and there is no pathfinding for NPCs in the water, they will endlessly run in circles and cannot be killed. This can be avoided by turning the player's field-of-vision towards the open water as the enemy waves will not spawn where the camera is facing.
- If the player attains a wanted level of at least three stars then provokes a gang war, any active police helicopters will still chase and open fire on Carl despite the wanted level being reset. Unlike during regular play, Carl can destroy them during the gang war without consequence.
- Consecutively taking over several territories in a single session will result in the "Total Respect" stat bar overflowing the containing message box, stretching across the top half of the screen.
- In some circumstances, the Varrios Los Aztecas territories in El Corona may not be correctly given back to the VLA after the mission Los Desperados. They may still show as enemy territory on the map but they are unable to be taken over since gang wars cannot be started against the Aztecas. If this occurs, the only way to remedy the issue is to reload an earlier save point and take over the hoods from the Vagos before starting the mission.
- It is possible to force the Varrios Los Aztecas (or any other gang) to attack GSF territory. First, either the Ballas or Vagos must initiate an attack against Families turf. While under attack, lure at least three gang members into El Corona or Little Mexico and waste them, then travel to the attacked territory. Instead of the expected purple or yellow, blue blips will appear on the map, with Varrios gang cars and members spawning and attacking Carl.
- In the mobile versions of the game, pedestrians may stop commenting on Carl's appearance once the gang war activity is unlocked. This may persist until the mission Home Coming is completed.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Very small territories, such as the area surrounding the Jefferson Motel and the street outside the 24/7 store in Temple, may be difficult to initiate a gang war against unless Carl is standing in a specific area when he attacks it.
- In lightly-defended neighborhoods, such as those near Ocean Docks and the Verona Mall in the Market district, finding enough gang members to waste and start a gang war may be difficult due to low gang presence. Killing a rival gang member with a headshot through a car windshield will still count towards the three kills needed, and usually this is enough to provoke any nearby enemies in vehicles to exit and attack Carl.