Best Co-Op Missions & Heists In GTA Online

Highlights

• The co-op component in GTA Online is one of the best out there, with exciting heists and missions that can be enjoyed with friends.
• The Doomsday Scenario is the most thrilling co-op experience in GTA Online, involving espionage, sci-fi weapons, and a race against the clock to save the world from nuclear war.
• Players can enjoy classic GTA-style missions with Franklin and Lamar, embarking on hilarious and wacky adventures in Short Trips that involve out-of-body experiences.

The lifespan of GTA Online seems to never die and for good reason. Players have enjoyed the content within GTA Online for over a decade, with exciting races, game modes, and a freemode lobby to keep them engaged and entertained whilst the world awaits Grand Theft Auto 6. Yet, one of the biggest factors that keeps GTA Online fun is the co-op component, which allows players to experience missions with friends.

Some of the best heists in GTA Online feature co-op mechanics and dependency, meaning that to those who have a friend or few who want to jump into Los Santos and really stir the pot, GTA Online is one of the best co-op experiences out there, especially when cash is flowing, and guns are being emptied.

Updated on January 8, 2024, by Jake Fillery: The best GTA Online missions come in a variety of forms, but more often than not they involve some form of criminal activity. Whether it’s murder or stealing, players can have the most fun when they are up to no good. Considering GTA Online is now over a decade old, celebrating its 10th year with the reveal of GTA 6, fans that come back to GTA Online might be wondering if there are some fun missions they can jump into with a friend or a few. Luckily for them, there’s an abundance of missions, as well as rewards to earn for doing so.

7 Pacific Standard

Unlocked By: Own A Heist Planning Board Apartment & Complete Series A Heist

Potential Rewards:

• $750,000 Easy Difficulty
• $1,500,000 Normal Difficulty
• $1,875,000 Hard Difficulty
• Reduced Price for Lectro, Savage, Boxville, Gang Burrito

It’s hard to beat the pure adrenaline that pumps from this heist mission, as 4 players are tasked with one goal: to rob one of the biggest banks in San Adreas’ Los Santos. As the finale to the original heists in GTA Online, the Pacific Standard had to be big, and it truly can be glorious to play, and rewarding to complete as a squad of 4 players, provided everyone works together and avoids getting shot.

The Pacific Standard heist mission has a rare mechanic that if the player or the money bag on their back takes damage, then they are going to lose some sweet cash, and further negate the final take from their total earnings. The heist itself is a lot of fun, with 2 players on crowd control in the bank whilst 2 others loot up the stacks of cash from the vault. What ensues is a chaotic chase and fight with the police which ends in the squad jumping off of motorcycles at the edge of a cliff and parachuting into a boat, something straight out of a Tom Cruise action movie.

6 Casino Story Missions

Unlocked By: Own The Master Penthouse At The Diamond Casino

Mission List:

• Loose Cheng
• House Keeping
• Strong Arm Tactics
• Play To Win
• Bad Beat
• Cashing Out

When players own the Master Penthouse in the Diamond Casino, they will receive a contract for a set of six missions from Agatha Baker, the highly stressed-out and busy casino manager. Although these six missions can be played solo, they are much better to experience alongside a friend or more, due to the fun content involved, especially when it’s rare for GTA Online to embark on story content.

The Casino Story Missions are a fairly fun set of missions in which the player will set off in a strange war with the Duggan family over the rights of the Diamond Casino. There’s plenty of action to be had and a true set of bizarre adventures in classic GTA Online style.

5 The Doomsday Scenario

Unlocked By: Own A Facility And Complete Act 1 & Act 2 of the Doomsday Heist

Rewards:

• $1,800,000 Normal Difficulty
• $2,250,000 Hard Difficulty
• Reduced Price For Thruster
• Remove Wanted Level is now Free

The entire set of acts in the Doomsday Heist is thrilling for co-op players. It’s most likely the definitive co-op experience in GTA Online, to have players embark on missions for the government and their good friend Lester Crest. These missions involve espionage, in which players will steal, kill, and test out new and exciting sci-fi weapons and vehicles, and all they need to do to start them is purchase a Facility in GTA Online.

However, despite every act involving a fun set of missions, it’s perhaps the Doomsday Scenario that shines the most. This is the finale of the Doomsday Heist, and it involves the players clearing out a Missile Launch Base from enemy territory, and saving the world from nuclear war. It’s an exhilarating mission, and a race against the clock, a far different mission than just robbing a bank.

4 Franklin And Lamar’s Short Trips

Unlocked By: Purchase An Agency & Complete The Contract: Dr. Dre

Mission List:

• Seed Capital
• Fire It Up
• OG Kush

Rewards:

• $50,000 Normal Difficulty
• $62,500 Hard Difficulty

After the years since Grand Theft Auto 5, the iconic buddy duo of Franklin and Lamar return in GTA Online. The two entrepreneurs have a set of contracts that they need the players’ help with, and these contracts even involve the real-life Dr. Dre. They’re a fun set of missions, but what comes after is Short Trips, another bout of classic GTA-style missions that can be replayed by 2 players, with a variety of mission targets.

Players will bound down the hills of Los Santos for Lamar and Franklin, embarking on these truly Short Trips that ensure hilarity and some truly wacky antics. Players will have some bizarre experiences as they enter an out-of-body experience, and it’s worth seeing to believe what happens in these missions.

3 Series A Funding

Unlocked By: Own A Heist Planning Board Apartment & Complete Humane Raid

Rewards:

• $353,500 Easy Difficulty
• $707,000 Normal Difficulty
• $883,750 Hard Difficulty
• Reduced Prices for Technical & Mule

One of the best characters in Grand Theft Auto was Trevor Philips, the unhinged and violent man who is unashamed of his Canadian roots. Trevor returns in classic Trevor fashion, by breaking into the player’s apartment that has a Heist planning room and settling down to tell his plans that involve a lot of killing and drugs in order to obtain a decent payout.

This set of missions concludes in the Series A Funding heist, in which players, alongside Trevor will mow down countless enemies to try and safely transport their stolen drugs. It’s a great mission for those that enjoy the familiar characters of Grand Theft Auto’s single-player campaigns, and for those that really like killing people in video games.

2 The Prison Break

Unlocked By: Own A Heist Planning Board Apartment & Complete Fleeca Job

Rewards:

• $350,000 Easy Difficulty
• $700,000 Normal Difficulty
• $875,000 Hard Difficulty
• Reduced Prices for Velum 5-Seater & Prison Bus

The Prison Break is another heist that is available to players who own an apartment with the Heist planning room. It’s a far cry from other GTA Online missions, and definitely one of the most challenging, considering every player involved has a specific role to play in the success of this story. However, no mission has done it quite like The Prison Break, in which players will break into the Bolingbroke Penitentiary to save Professor Maxim Rashkovsky.

The team is split apart for this mission, with one player flying a plane to evade jets, another in a buzzard to shoot down said jets from destroying the player in the plane, whilst two other players take to the ground, posing as a prisoner and a prison guard as they try and infiltrate the prison to get their target. The Prison Break is intense, requires skill and teamwork, and if all things go right a smooth paycheck.

1 The Diamond Casino Heist

Unlocked By: Own An Arcade

Potential Payout Normal Difficulty:

• Cash – $2,115,000
• Artwork – $2,350,000
• Gold – $2,585,000
• Diamonds – $3,290,000

Potential Payout Hard Difficulty:

• Cash – $2,326,600
• Artwork – $2,585,000
• Gold – $2,843,500
• Diamonds – $3,619,000

Robbing banks is a high selling point of GTA Online. Yet, when the payout isn’t enough, they can always rely on the flowing bucks of the Diamond Casino. Players can rob the Diamond Casino like a rockstar, with either 2 players or 4, and there are multiple ways that players can enjoy the heist. Whether players enjoy a stealthy approach, or the chaos of loud, both are capable and viable strategies for the Diamond Casino Heist.

Even the loot inside the vault can be random, meaning players might find gold, diamonds, paintings, or cash that could net them a different profit. Teamwork is essential in the Diamond Casino Heist, as players will want to time their shots, kills, and protection of each other to maximize their efficiency when scoring this big one.