Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the most famous games of all time, having dominated the market for over a decade since its initial release. However, there are still players going through the campaign again and again, and there are plenty of useful ways to jump-start a new run by completing some valuable side missions quickly.
There are plenty of amazingly fun side quests in Grand Theft Auto 5, but some of them don’t come with a lot of rewards. Players should look into some of the most well-rewarded side quests early in the game, so they can utilize the rewards before they’re already incredibly rich.
6 Armored Truck Robbery
This isn’t a specific side mission as much as it is an opportunity that players should be keeping an eye out for from early in their playthrough of Grand Theft Auto 5. Armored vans will be seen around the city with two guards inside, and players can gun these guards down to steal the money that resides inside the vans.
This can be a massive help for players early on since the van can be attacked while loading up or chased down in another car to give a big boost monetarily when it is harder to gain large amounts in one swoop early in the game. The back doors cannot be shot off, instead, players will need to have something explosive at the ready to get them off, but it is worth it for the valuable amount resting inside.
5 The Altruist Cult
For players just looking for an early way to get literal briefcases filled with money, there is a strange mission that players may have missed in previous runs of Grand Theft Auto 5 which they should look into. Available out in the wilderness on the giant map, there is a mission that takes place in the lands of a fanatical cult known as the Altruist Cult.
This mission involves the cult leader demanding that Trevor bring them “lost souls” that they can feed upon in exchange for cash. Eventually, the cult members turn on Trevor during one of these deliveries and Trevor has to take out the cult members in extremely violent fashion, all while stealing the several briefcases filled with cash that they have available.
4 The Epsilon Program
To engage with this sequence of events and missions, involving yet another cult, Michael can go to his computer and complete the surveys involved. While joining this cult, which worships the God Kifflom, involves making payments and donations as Michael tries to rise higher, there is a massive payout waiting at the end of it all.
There are eight full missions involved in the quest line, but if players make the right choices as they continue down the path of this parody cult (which in particular targets Scientology) they will be able to make an enormous 2.1 million in cash, or they will receive the prize of an old tractor, so make sure to take the money when offered it instead of any other gifts that might be available options.
3 The Assassinations
Players may not think much of Lester’s assassination missions in Grand Theft Auto 5, but these can be used to great effect if players focus a little. Lester will engage Franklin in five separate assassinations of investment bankers over the course of this sequence of missions, and Franklin can if he chooses buy up stocks after they plummet due to the assassination of these bankers.
This results in the stock prices rising again gradually, and Franklin being able to sell the stocks to quickly make ridiculous amounts of money. The reward for these missions isn’t so much in the reward as in the opportunity it presents players with.
2 The Los Santos Slasher
Players will hear over the course of their time in Los Santos during Grand Theft Auto 5 about the Slasher who has been terrorizing the city of late. While he never needs to be interacted with as part of any main story quest, there is a side mission where the killer starts to drop clues that reveal more about his identity and presence in the city.
After players find and uncover all of these clues, the Slasher will send a threatening message, leading to a final confrontation where the Slasher attempts to take the player out. In exchange for killing the killer at the end of all this, players get a unique gun reward in addition to a huge volume of cash which would be useful to obtain early-game.
1 Death Matches
Though it may be difficult to get involved in death matches early in the game, these side quests are available in the “available jobs” menu and pit players against a variety of other players and AI opponents in a variety of combat and stealth situations where the last man or AI player standing wins from a pool of potential rewards.
Players can gain achievements, money, and an excellent variety of items from completing and achieving victories in death match situations, so these will always be one of the best side quests for players to get involved in when starting a new run and attempting to make money quickly. It will be trickier for players with a lack of weapons to pick up victories, so these missions should be put off a little until players have gathered some weaponry, but they can be completed fairly early on without too much risk.
Grand Theft Auto 5 was released on 17th September 2013 and is currently available on PC, PlayStation 3, 4 & 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.