Los Santos is a jungle, so how do you survive to get to double digits?
Last weekend I decided to start an experiment of sorts in GTA Online. As a longtime player with a character that is level 202 at the time of writing, I wondered just how easy it would be, taking into consideration everything I now know about the game, to start fresh. Surely the countless hours I had already invested in the game would be nothing if not beneficial if I was to create a whole new persona for myself and set off to regain my fortune and notoriety. So with that thought in my head, that’s precisely what I did. Starting from scratch with a brand new avatar, I entered the world of Los Santos pretty confidant that my vast knowledge of the game would see me through without too much trouble. What follows is what I’ve since learned and should help guide you if you’re about to take make your first foray into GTA Online.
Don’t Skip The Tutorial
Meet Jane Doe. She’s the great, great, great, granddaughter of the notorious outlaw that bares her name and still stalks the Wild West that is Red Dead Online. She’s also about to take her first tentative steps into Los Santos which means I have to sit through that long-ass intro and though it’s tempting to say “Sod it” and skip the whole tutorial thing, that’s pretty much suicide. Playing through the how-to-be-a-bad-guy option that the game gives you is sensible for one reason, and that is that it allows you to get to at least level three before you find yourself dropped into the heart of the beast. It may seem like a good idea to not bother with this, but you will die as soon as you hit the ground.
Make Sure Auto-Aim Is On
Now there are certain players out there that will try to convince you that for the real gamer experience that auto-aim should be looked down upon as if it had just stolen your wallet. However, they are, quite frankly, as mad as a sack full of rabid badgers that you’ve just spent the past 15 mins poking with a very sharp stick. Auto-aim is your friend, and nowhere was this more apparent than during the first deathmatch I participated in where Jane was not only on the winning side, but she had the highest kills on the board. So suck on that, purists.
Enable Passive Mode
If auto-aim is your friend, then the passive mode is that one guy in every group of mates that will crush anyone that even looks at you cock-eyed. As soon as you’re let loose in Los Santos, it should be the first thing that you turn on. The picture above is a prime example of why. While shopping for a brand new outfit for Jane, prison chic wasn’t doing it for me; another player opened the door of the Binco’s I was in and tried to fill me full of lead. Luckily, I’d turned the passive mode on so the bullets missed but if I hadn’t, and if I’d been new to the game, that could’ve been the end of this run-through of GTA Online. After all, unless you’re a sadist, then you’re going to get no pleasure from being everybody’s whipping boy/girl. Once it’s enabled, there’s no reason to turn it off unless you want to compete in a Deathmatch; otherwise, everything else can be done with passive mode firmly on.
Bank Everything You Make
If for whatever reason you decide to not bother with my last piece of advice or maybe you’ve only just realized passive mode exists, then you need to bank anything that you make from $5,000 upwards. If you don’t, then you might as well draw a massive target on the back of your skull that says, “Please shoot me, I’m carrying the money you can steal.” Banking your cash is as easy as going to an ATM but even better is the fact that you can access your account from your phone and deposit cash that way. Still, turn the passive mode on, and you won’t be fumbling around attempting to do so while others try and blow you up.
Get A Good Car
One of the missions that you get handed early if you can call it a mission, is to jack a car from somewhere to use as your vehicle. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be sent to Los Santos Customs where you can install a tracker and get insurance for free. My advice is to get a good motor but don’t aim for the high-end range as they can’t be used as Rockstar want you to work hard/buy Shark Cards to get those. There are two choices available to you realistically. My original character has an SUV of all things that may not be fast, but it’s 100% bulletproof now and makes for great cover when I’m off killing people. Jane Doe, on the other hand, has gone for a sleeker and faster mode of transport so that she can help out more in group missions as she’s a nice lady like that. Also, make sure to turn off car accessibility for everyone and make it only for passengers then no asshole can drive your wheels off a bridge.
Unhide The Blue Mission Markers
This is a strange one. For some reason, the blue mission markers hide after you play through the first Deathmatch in the tutorial, and you have to go into the pause menu and turn them back on. There’s no explanation for this, it’s probably a glitch, but it’s annoying as all hell as you can’t see all the things you can do to make yourself some money. Turn them back on and away you go.
Do The High Paying Missions
It’s quite easy to make money in GTA Online, but if you’re a lower level character, then you don’t want to be taking on lv 45 missions as you’re only going to get dead, very quickly. If, however, you want to make some serious cash, then you can always jump onto whatever the featured missions are for that week/month. It’s currently the Simeon repo jobs that Rockstar added not that long back. You don’t need to be of a very high level at all to compete and be successful as you’ll generally find yourself teamed with at least two, if not three, other players who have been in the game for a very long time. Just try not to get in the way and killed, and you can bank some serious cash and RP.
Come Find Me
And there you have it. A helpful, straightforward guide that you can follow as a first-time player and make it to lv 10 without getting too molested by the others. As for Jane Doe, well she’s out there somewhere, currently earning enough money to buy a top-end apartment. When she does, she’ll be robbing banks and pulling heists, and if this guide does well enough, then you’ll get to read all about that side of things as well. Until then, come and find me. You know what she looks like, you know where she is, hell, you even know what kind of car he drives, and if you do see Jane then stop by and say hello. Just don’t try and shoot her in the head; passive mode will make you feel foolish if you do.
