Heist Crew Members in GTA V

This page is about characters who can be recruited for Heists. To see when to select them and when they are used see; Heists and Heist Setups.

Heist Crew Members are minor characters in Grand Theft Auto V who can be hired by the protagonists to assist in Heist missions.

Description

In setups the player can select them when Michael selects personnel. He can choose from gunmen, hackers and drivers, needed to complete the job alongside Michael, Franklin, and Trevor (excluding The Merryweather Heist and Blitz Play). Better crew members can do the job well, but ask for a higher cut (except for Taliana Martinez). Cheap hirelings will get better with each successful heist they take part in, assuming they survive, but their base performance level can result in catastrophe, or at least a more challenging mission for the protagonists.

Two members need random events completed before they can be recruited. Patrick McReary from Grand Theft Auto IV can be hired, but first a player-character must help him get away from a robbery at the drug store near Franklin's original house, a random encounter available after Pulling Favors has been completed. He has a better rating than any gunman, but charges the second highest cut in his category; 12%. Taliana Martinez can also be hired after helping her receive medical attention following a car crash in the median of the freeway east of Paleto Bay, a random event available after Mr. Philips. She is one of the more skilled drivers, but charges only 5%; at her price she is a no-brainer choice.

Two other members will call a protagonist and offer their services; Rickie Lukens, a hacker (but not a very good one without gaining experience), will call Michael after Friend Request, and again after The Paleto Score or The Bureau Raid if he has not been hired by then. Chef will contact Trevor after Blitz Play and offer his services as a gunman. Like Packie, he charges 12% and is quite competent.

Crew members

This lists the characters who can be used in either The Jewel Store Job, The Paleto Score (gunman only), The Bureau Raid and The Big Score with their original (inexperienced) quality in italics:

Drivers

• Eddie Toh - 14% cut Good
• Karim Denz - 8% cut Poor
• Taliana Martinez - 5% cut (Only available once the player has completed her random event) Good

Gunmen

• Gustavo Mota - 14% cut Good
• Chef - 12% cut (Only available after Blitz Play) Good
• Packie McReary - 12% cut (Only available once the player has completed his random event) Good
• Karl Abolaji - 8% cut (Only available after The Bureau Raid) Poor
• Hugh Welsh - 7% cut (Only available after The Paleto Score) Poor
• Norm Richards - 7% cut Poor
• Daryl Johns - 6% cut (Only available after Blitz Play) Poor

Hackers

• Paige Harris - 15% cut Good
• Christian Feltz - 10% cut Fair
• Rickie Lukens - 4% cut (Unlocked after Friend Request.) Poor

Upgrading crew skills

Each time a crew member participates in a successful heist and survives, his or her skill ratings are increased by approximately 25%. However, these skills (represented by the bars on the character's resume sheet) are actually unimportant except for gunmen; what is more important is how the game mechanic classifies the crew member for scripted events during each heist: Good or Poor for drivers and gunmen; Good, Fair or Poor for hackers. Each heist will upgrade a crew member by one category. For example, if Rickie Lukens, originally a Poor hacker, is used in the Jewel Store Job then he will be a Fair hacker for the Bureau Raid, and if used for that as well then he will be Good for the Big Score. Poor Drivers and Gunmen only need to be used once to be upgraded to Good.

A gunman's skills do have an effect on unscripted gameplay, since his weapon, shooting accuracy and hitpoints affect his usefulness in a shootout and his likelihood of dying. Note, however, that the game makes it impossible for a Poor gunman to be upgraded more than once, for participating in the Bureau Raid; earlier heists are unsurvivable for a Poor gunman.

Mission effects of crew skills

Drivers

Good: Taliana and Eddie; Karim with experience. Poor: Karim w/o experience.

The Jewel Store Job

Smart

• Good: Will select dirt bikes for the escape, and will radio helpful directions to Franklin.
• Poor: Will select street bikes for the escape, and will not be helpful in navigating. If the gunman crashes, a poor driver will stop briefly in confusion.

Loud

• Good: Will empty the display cases without dropping any jewelry. Will select dirt bikes for the escape, and will radio helpful directions to Franklin.
• Poor: Will drop roughly 10% of the jewelry. Will select street bikes for the escape, and will not be helpful in navigating. If the gunman crashes, a poor driver will stop briefly in confusion.

The Bureau Raid

Roof

• Good: Will arrive on time driving an ambulance, allowing an easy unnoticed getaway.
• Poor: Will arrive late driving a van, leading to a police chase.

The Big Score

Obvious

• Good: As Driver 1, will pilot the helicopter through the wind farm and deliver the gold, provided Trevor and Lester destroy the pursuing Merryweather choppers. As Driver 2, will drive the train successfully.
• Poor: As Driver 1, will crash the helicopter in the wind farm, losing half the gold. As Driver 2, no adverse effect (will drive the train successfully).

Subtle

• Good: As Driver 1, will successfully evade police in the Bravado. As Driver 2, will keep the truck steady for Franklin to board.
• Poor: As Driver 1, will spin out and crash his Bravado, getting arrested and losing a quarter of the gold. As Driver 2, will weave the truck from side to side, making Franklin's boarding difficult.

Gunmen

Good: Gus, Packie and Chef; others with experience. Poor: Norm, Daryl, Hugh and Karl w/o experience.

The Jewel Store Job

Smart

• Good: Will empty the display cases without dropping any jewelry, and will escape through the sewers with the driver and Franklin.
• Poor: Will drop roughly 10% of the jewelry, and will crash his bike during the escape, dying or getting arrested and dropping his third of the jewelry (Franklin can recover it).

Loud

• Good: Will handle crowd control without incident, and will escape through the sewers with the driver and Franklin.
• Poor: Will fail to control the store manager, forcing Michael to shoot her and costing him time, and will crash his bike during the escape, dying or getting arrested and dropping his third of the jewelry (Franklin can recover it).

The Paleto Score

• Good: Will effectively help fend off law enforcement, then will create a diversion to take the heat off the protagonists and escape on his own.
• Poor: Will be crushed by a police car and die, dropping his third of the money (a player-character can recover it).

The Bureau Raid

Roof

• Good: Will effectively help fend off law enforcement.
• Poor: Will be of little help during the shootout and may die.

Covert

• Good: Will not die during the escape.
• Poor: Will die in an explosion if the other gunman is good; if both are poor then one (chosen randomly) will die.

The Big Score

Obvious:

• Good: As Gunman 1, will successfully move the gold from the vault. As Gunman 2, will effectively help fight through the police and NOOSE to the getaway car.
• Poor: As Gunman 1, no adverse effect (will successfully move the gold from the vault). As Gunman 2, will be of little help in the shootout and may die.

Subtle

• Good: As Gunman 1, will load all the gold into the Bravados. As Gunman 2, will successfully change the Securicar tires and guard the hostages.
• Poor (not improved with experience): As Gunman 1, will drop roughly 9% of the gold. As Gunman 2, no adverse effect (will successfully change the Securicar tires and guard the hostages).

Hackers

Good: Paige; Christian with one heist; Rickie with two heists. Fair: Christian; Rickie with one heist. Poor: Rickie w/o experience.

The Jewel Store Job

• Good: Will hold off the alarm for 90 seconds
• Fair: Will hold off the alarm for 60 seconds
• Poor: Will hold off the alarm for 50 seconds (30 in the original console release)

The Bureau Raid

Roof

• Good: Will help hack the system effectively and turn off the sprinklers.
• Fair: Will help hack the system effectively but cannot turn off the sprinklers.
• Poor: Will neither help hack the system nor turn off the sprinklers.

The Big Score

Subtle

• Good: Will control the traffic lights with no delay
• Fair: Will control the traffic lights but with a 2-second delay
• Poor: Will control the traffic lights but with a 4-second delay

Crew choices for maximum net revenue

You only get one shot at making money from each heist. You can always come back and use Mission Replay to score medals, and then you can use all the expensive hirelings you like since the money doesn't count; but within the campaign it's more important to realize the maximum possible cash than shoot for 100%.

If you simply play it safe and always hire the best - and most expensive - contract criminals, you can easily find yourself paying over half your hard-earned take to your employees! While in many cases going cheap with the help is penny-wise and pound foolish, and a budget goon will cost you far more than you thought you were saving, in other cases a low-cost crew member can do the job perfectly well, or at worst just make the mission a bit more challenging without actually causing money loss.

The Jewel Store Job

Smart (preferred):

• Driver: Karim Denz (8%)
• Gunman: Packie McReary* (12%)
• Hacker: Rickie Lukens (4%)

Crew cut: 24%

Loud:

• Driver: Eddie Toh (14%)
• Gunman: Packie McReary* (12%)
• Hacker: Rickie Lukens (4%)

Crew cut: 30%

It's essential on this first heist to choose a good man to help Michael clean out the display cases. This task falls to the gunman in the Smart approach and the driver in the Loud approach: a poor crewman in this role will drop roughly 10% of the jewelry or half a million dollars' worth. In the Loud approach not only will a cheap driver (Karim) drop loot, but a poor gunman (Norm) fails at crowd control, costing precious time and making a clean sweep of all the loot impossible within the alarm window Rickie can provide, as well as dying during the escape. By contrast in the Smart approach, using the bargain-price Norm as the gunman will result in dropped jewelry, but choosing Karim over the pricier Eddie as the driver will have no adverse consequences, save the minor challenge of driving a Bati 801 rather than a Sanchez through the sewers. In either approach Norm will crash his bike and die or get arrested, raising his cost to 10.5% and forcing Franklin to recover his satchel, or lose a third of the take. For these reasons the Smart approach is preferred- the Loud approach requires both an expensive gunman and an expensive driver, whereas the Smart approach only requires an expensive gunman.

As the hacker, Rickie can only hold the alarm for 50 seconds, but clearing the cases in 50 seconds is possible (as little as 43 seconds in the Smart approach), as well as a gold-medal requirement. Moreover, it's important for Rickie to start gaining experience.

Note: in the original unpatched console release, Rickie could only stall the alarm for an unsatisfactory 30 seconds, necessitating the use of Christian Feltz instead. In the next-gen, PC and updated 360/PS3 versions, Rickie's time window is increased to 50 seconds.

The Merryweather Heist

No crew

Blitz Play

No crew

The Paleto Score

• Gunman: Norm Richards (7%)

Casualty expenses: 10.5%

Either of the cheap gunmen will die here, but even with the 1.5x casualty penalty Norm still winds up costing less than any of the good gunmen (if you remember to pick up his satchel, naturally!) Daryl costs the least (9% casualty expenses), but 1.5% of this rather small take is far less than 1% of the Big Score, so save him for later. Note however that the firefight will be somewhat more difficult, as a skilled gunman (Packie, Gus or Chef) would create a diversion and take some of the heat off the protagonists.

The Bureau Raid

Roof Entry (Preferred):

• Driver: Taliana Martinez* (5%)
• Gunman: Daryl Johns (6%)
• Hacker: Rickie Lukens (4%)

Crew cut: 15%

Covert:

• Gunmen: Hugh Welsh (7%) and Daryl Johns (6%)

Crew cut plus casualty expenses 16-16.5%

The Covert approach at first glance would seem less expensive (2 crew members rather than 3), but the game booby-traps this choice by guaranteeing that, in the Covert approach, one cheap gunman will die in an explosion. Two good gunmen will both survive, but cost a minimum 24% combined. Nobody will die in the Rooftop approach, unless you fail to protect the rather fragile Daryl during the firefight. Among the drivers, Taliana is just as effective as Eddie as well as the least expensive. Rickie, with experience gained from the Vangelico stickup, will hack the system adequately, and although he can't turn off the sprinklers their effect on gameplay is merely cosmetic. Be aware that taking the Covert approach means that Rickie will not gain invaluable experience for the Big Score.

The Big Score

Obvious (Preferred):

• Driver 1 (helicopter): Taliana Martinez* (5%)
• Driver 2 (train): Karim Denz (8%)
• Gunman 1 (with Franklin): Hugh Welsh (7%)
• Gunman 2 (with Michael): Daryl Johns (6%)

Crew cut: 26%

In the Obvious approach the helicopter pilot has to be good, otherwise the chopper will crash with half the take. Anyone can drive the train. If you used Karim on a previous job, then he and Taliana are interchangeable; otherwise she flies. Of the two gunmen, the first simply helps Franklin move the gold out of the vault and can be anybody; the second has to shoot his way through the cops to the getaway car and should thus be whichever one gained experience and improved stats from the Bureau Raid.

Subtle:

• Driver 1 (Bravado): Taliana Martinez* (5%)
• Driver 2 (truck): Karim Denz (8%)
• Gunman 1 (gold transfer): Packie McReary* or Chef (12%)
• Gunman 2 (hostages): Daryl Johns (6%)
• Hacker: Rickie Lukens (4%)

Crew cut: 35%

In the Subtle approach, a poor driver in the fourth Bravado will wreck and get arrested, along with a quarter of the take; obviously this is a job for Taliana. If Karim is driving the truck and is completely inexperienced, he will weave from side to side and make things more difficult for Franklin, but if you have used him previously he'll keep it straight and true. The Subtle approach does require a good first gunman, because a cheap one regardless of experience will drop a good bit of the gold - roughly $18 million! - while loading it into the Bravados; the second gunman can be anyone since all he has to do is help change the tires and take the hostages to a safehouse. Rickie with two heists under his belt (you did use him, right?) will hack the traffic lights every bit as well as Paige Harris. Note that the Subtle approach also will cost you a $300,000 bribe and the expense of upgrading the Bravados, so it's markedly less lucrative than the Obvious approach.

Losable crew members

Depending on your heist specialists' experience, they can sometimes end up dying or arrested, in which case their death or legal expenses will be 1.5x their original cut; e.g. losing a crew member with a cut of 7% will increase his cost to 10.5%.

Drivers

Eddie Toh

• ​The Big Score (Obvious) If Trevor doesn't keep the helicopter steady so Lester can destroy the Merryweather helicopters he'll be shot down.

Karim Denz

• The Big Score
  • (Subtle) If his driving experience is low and if he is chosen to drive the fourth Gauntlet, he crashes his car, gets pulled out and arrested by the police.
  • (Obvious) If his driving experience is low and he is chosen to pilot the helicopter carrying the gold, he crashes it into a windmill and it explodes, killing him. Or if he has experience, if Trevor doesn't keep his own helicopter steady so Lester can destroy the Merryweather helicopters he'll be shot down.

Taliana Martinez

• The Big Score (Obvious) If Trevor doesn't keep his own helicopter steady so Lester can destroy the Merryweather helicopters she'll be shot down.

Gunmen

Daryl Johns

• The Paleto Score Gets hit by a police car then pinned to a wall causing him to suffocate and die.
• The Bureau Raid (Covert) Gets caught in the backdraft when the locked door opens and dies.*
• The Bureau Raid (Roof) May be killed in the shootout with law enforcement.
• The Big Score (Obvious) If chosen to accompany Michael, may be killed in the shootout with law enforcement.

Hugh Welsh

• The Bureau Raid (Covert) Gets caught in the backdraft when the locked door opens and dies.*
• The Bureau Raid (Roof) May be killed in the shootout with law enforcement.
• The Big Score (Obvious) If chosen to accompany Michael, may be killed in the shootout with law enforcement.

Norm Richards

• The Jewel Store Job (either approach) Crashes his bike during the escape; he either dies or gets arrested.
• The Paleto Score Gets hit by a police car then pinned to a wall causing him to suffocate and die.
• The Bureau Raid (Covert) in the backdraft when the locked door opens and dies.*
• The Bureau Raid (Roof) May be killed in the shootout with law enforcement.
• The Big Score (Obvious) If chosen to accompany Michael, may be killed in the shootout with law enforcement.

Karl Abolaji

• The Big Score (Obvious) If chosen to accompany Michael, may be killed in the shootout with law enforcement.

*If the other gunman is good. If two poor gunmen are hired, only one of them (chosen at random) will die.

Video

Trivia

• Daryl Johns, Hugh Welsh and Karl Abojali can't be recruited if the player replays a heist, for unknown reasons.