The Merryweather Heist & Set Up

● GOLD MEDAL ● Various Objectives See Below

Trevor gets Michael and Franklin involved in stealing a top secret government item. They definitely won't mind its disappearance.

Rewards: None
Protagonists: Trevor (start, set up), Michael, Franklin

Scouting the Port

Trevor walks into Floyd's apartment and finds Floyd and Wade talking about him. Floyd is upset about Trevor violating his girlfriend's stuffed bear. He doesn't want his girlfriend to leave him since he has a small penis. Trevor drops trou and says his isn't anything special either. Getting to business, Wade works at the docks. Trevor wants to know if there is anything special or valuable there. Wade isn't sure but they'll find out soon. Trevor hands them appropriate uniforms and the three get changed. They make their way outside and Trevor calls Ron to give a heads up that information will be coming his way.

Drive to Pier 400 in the port. During the drive Trevor presses Floyd about what kinds of things they could steal around the docks. Eventually Floyd mentions that Merryweather has been guarding a freighter and also has men at a navy warehouse. They are supposedly testing something. Trevor is intrigued. When you reach the pier continue through the gate and park next to dispatch. The three exit Trevor's truck. Wade gets roped into cleaning a messy bathroom. Follow Floyd out onto the pier. Trevor asks about various ways to get the cargo out but Floyd says the airspace is restricted and the coast guard is quick. They spot the freighter. Floyd says government stuff usually moves quick but this stuff hasn't.

Handling precious cargo

As Floyd and Trevor approach the ship a supervisor tells them to get on the handler and move some containers from Bay B to Bay F. Get in the Handler and drive over to the containers. Controls are displayed if needed. Grab the two containers (one at a time) and drop them at the loading bay. After getting the first Trevor will say he needs to get a better view and decides to get on a crane.


After moving the two containers drive over to the crane. Climb up and another supervisor will tell Trevor he needs someone to operate it. Not wanting to blow his cover, Trevor jumps in. Controls are displayed if needed. Move the two containers at one end over to the trucks at the other. You don't need to be precise grabbing and dropping but get pretty close. After moving the two containers Trevor will get out and say he's going to get pictures for the kids. Walk over to the vantage point and take three pictures: The bow (front), the guards, and the stern (rear). Send them to Ron and climb down to Floyd.

Floyd will take you to the navy warehouse. Hop in the truck and drive to docking area. Floyd says Merryweather is guarding a dry dock and won't let anyone in. Trevor thinks rules do not apply to them and questions Floyd's position in life pretty harshly. Pull into the marker. A cutscene shows Trevor acting like he doesn't speak English and tries to walk in. The guards stop him and Floyd intervenes - only to get surrounded and have the crap beat out of him. Trevor uses the distraction to grab a briefcase from the guard shack and walks away.

Get a vehicle and go back to Floyd's apartment. Ron calls and says Merryweather is definitely guarding serious military hardware below deck on the freighter. The manifest Trevor just stole confirms they are testing something out at sea. He tells Ron to get back to work with T.P.I. and Ron says he has a whole file on Merryweather somewhere. They hang up.

Decisions, decisions

Back at the apartment Trevor is taken back by the smell of poop which can be seen smeared on the walls. Wade is found on the couch covered in you-know-what. Trevor needs to plan out their attack and takes down a picture of Floyd's girlfriend to use the wall. He draws it up real quick and goes over the information. There are two valuable unknown devices and two approaches: Freighter or Offshore. Attacking the freighter will mean blowing up the ship and recover the device under water. Someone will plant charges and someone else will provide covering fire. The port goes on lockdown as soon as they make a sound. For offshore the device is already under the waves. Either choice will need a submarine. For offshore they'll need a large helicopter to move the submarine far off the coast and bring back the device.

Make your decision. Trevor will contact Michael to help and tells him to bring Franklin along. Floyd comes home to the filthy mess and Trevor tells him to give Wade a bath. Trevor watches TV for a bit and later phones Michael to bring him in. Michael suggests talking to Lester before making a move but Trevor isn't too worried about it. If you choose the offshore approach Trevor tells Michael to attend Flight School but it is not a requirement.

Tips

• There is no vehicle damage objective so you can bang up the vehicles quite a bit.
• Containers do not need to be perfectly lined up when picked up or placed. They will snap into place when off by a little bit. There is no specific spot to drop them when using the handler. Anywhere in the marked out area.
• For the crane line up the bottom of the crane with the target container to be on target.
• When using the crane I prefer the top-down view (use select to change) for more exact placement. Raise the containers until each end touches the edges of your screen. That should be high enough to clear the other stack and still give you a partial view of where the crane is.
• When placing containers on the truck, the crane will not move past the truck's trailer so go until it stops and then lower the container down.

Objectives

• Mission Time - Complete the mission within 20:00.
• Employee of the Month - Complete without damaging the containers.
• Perfect Surveillance - Snap all 3 photographs of the boat as instructed.
• An Honest Day's Work - Complete without causing a disturbance at the docks.

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Freighter

The choice is made to go after the device in the ship.

Minisub

Go into the port and find the ship where the minisub is. There are two ways to get the sub: get onboard to release the cables or shoot the cables from the pier. If you get on board there is a worker walking around. Wait for him to move on and hit the release. The worker and another will come back not long after. Other method is to stand on the pier in front of the ship and shoot all four cables to release it. Either way jump in the water and climb on top of the sub to enter. Bring it over to the extraction point and Floyd will lift it onto a truck using a crane. Drive the truck to the warehouse and get out to complete this part.

Tips

• Either way is easy but you'll complete the objective for shooting the cables from the pier.
• The marker for the extraction point is actually under the water but you can be above it to trigger the cutscene.

Objectives

• Mission Time - Complete the mission within 08:30.
• No Boarding - Steal the Submersible without boarding the boat.

The Merryweather Heist

Everyone meets at the condo in Vespucci Beach. Wade and Floyd clean up as Michael and Franklin arrive. Lester is in the hospital but Trevor says they saved 20% of the cut. Michael doesn't like it since Lester didn't want them to do the North Yankton job and they know how that turned out. Franklin doesn't think Lester is such a bad guy either. Back to the plan, Franklin will be a look out on the bridge. Michael will place explosives around the ship. Trevor will run the salvage operation. Without further questions they head out. As Trevor, drive Franklin to the bridge. He'll give Franklin a sniper with a thermal scope. They'll talk about Merryweather along the way. When you reach the marker in the median you'll SWITCH to Franklin. Go to the vantage point and he'll call Michael who is in a Dinghy next to the ship. He can't see if any guards are on deck so Franklin needs to clear it. Snipe the two guards talking to each other on the bow. Michael will climb up and you are SWITCHed to him. Place a charge at the locations given on the ship.


Either wait for the game to suggest a SWITCH and go back to Michael after or just SWITCH to Franklin and continue taking down guards as Michael automatically makes his way across the ship. One will walk under Michael at the bow and the next is on a set of stairs leading down to the dock next to the large mast. Another will walk by that area from the far side of the ship. More guards will walk towards this side of the ship in the next two aisles between containers. Around the second mast are two guards. One is walking on the deck and the other is higher on a catwalk. Take them out and there are three more around the superstructure. One is on another set of stairs to the dock, one is up higher under a lifeboat, and one is walking around the very end of the ship.

This part kind of sucks. Eventually Michael reaches the stern and needs to go inside. When he does so the guards become aware of his presence and it's a race to get out alive. You are SWITCHed to Franklin (if not already using him) and are stuck using the sniper scope - you can't find better cover. Two guards are near the superstructure. One will run up towards Michael and another is on the stair set pointing out Franklin. Take these two out as soon as possible. Two SUVs with four guards each enter the port and drive up to the ship. They know where Franklin is and start shooting with accurate rifles. They pop in and out of cover quickly so you'll need to line up their either position and hit them there in the one second they are still. When most of them are dead a Buzzard helicopter flies in and puts its guns to work on Franklin. Aim for the pilot to take it down quickly.

Finish killing whoever is left and Michael will make a run for it. Guards come after him so be ready. One is behind Michael on the upper deck and one will run around the front of the superstructure on the same level. Kill them and Michael will move down. Two more guards run around the very end of the ship so get them too. Michael moves down and two more guards run around the front of the superstructure on the deck. Clear them and Michael runs to the north side and jumps off. Wait until he calls clear and use your phone to detonate the charges using Contacts > Detonate.

Stinking water

Watch the explosive cutscene. The ship lists and the containers fall off the deck. SWITCHed to Michael, he jumps in the water using SCUBA gear and you are told to locate the device. Watch your radar for the signal waves. Move towards the source and dive down to the device which has a small red light on it. Michael will tell Trevor he found it. SWITCHed to Trevor, get the minisub to the device. Get on top of it with the sub to automatically attach it. Trevor tells Michael he is done and they'll meet at Pier 400 for a debrief. Get the device to the safe area where Floyd is waiting with a crane.

Trevor is visibly excited as the sub is pulled from the water. Michael and Franklin are waiting on the dock. Lester pulls up in a taxi - wearing only a hospital gown - and is very angry about their score. He says it's a superweapon and wants it returned immediately. Trevor doesn't want to let it go but none of the others want to be on the government's kill list. Trevor agrees to have Floyd help Lester return it and tells Michael he still owes him. Michael and Franklin take off leaving Trevor alone.

Tips

• The first two guards can be taken out with one shot. Shoot the head of the closer one and the bullet will go through into the other.
• Easiest method I found was to stay as Franklin once the first charge is placed. Keep the path ahead of Michael clear and he'll automatically move along planting charges.
• If you miss a shot and alert a guard, get him before he alerts the others. Likewise if two guards are in the same area either wait for them to separate or make two quick shots.
• Take out the ones in the SUVs as quickly as possible. They have good rifles and know exactly where you are.
• Easiest way to take down the Buzzard is to shoot the pilot.
• The device is near the rear of the ship but thrown a distance away.

Objectives

• Headshots - Kill 12 enemies with a headshot.
• Accuracy - Finish with a shooting accuracy of at least 80%.
• Ninja - Kill 12 enemies using stealth attacks (the sniper counts).
• Container Hunter - Find the container within 60 seconds.
• No Alarms - Get to the ship interior without being detected.

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Offshore

The choice is made to go after the device off the coast.

Minisub

Go into the port and find the ship where the minisub is. There are two ways to get the sub: get onboard to release the cables or shoot the cables from the pier. If you get on board there is a worker walking around. Wait for him to move on and hit the release. The worker and another will come back not long after. Other method is to stand on the pier in front of the ship and shoot all four cables to release it. Either way jump in the water and climb on top of the sub to enter. Bring it over to the extraction point and Floyd will lift it onto a truck using a crane. Drive the truck to the warehouse and get out to complete this part.

Tips

• Either way is easy but you'll complete the objective for shooting the cables from the pier.
• The marker for the extraction point is actually under the water but you can be above it to trigger the cutscene.

Objectives

• Mission Time - Complete the mission within 08:30.
• No Boarding - Steal the Submersible without boarding the boat.

Military Chopper

Go to Fort Zancudo where the Cargobob is being kept. You'll need to fight your way to the helicopter with a 4 star wanted level and escape in it. It is located along the eastern half of the runway near the Titans and hangers. To enter the fort you can go through the gates, fly or parachute in, or jump the fence in a vehicle where possible. If you go through the gates use a fast car to get to the helicopter quickly. There is a small hill west of the south gateway road and part of the mountain on the east side of the base to jump the fence. Flying over the base won't prevent you from being seen but can get you right to the helicopter. Merryweather guards won't take kindly to your presence. Needless to say they have good weapons so you'll need good weapons too. When you lift off escape the other military chopper firing missiles and the rest of the attention and get your helicopter to the hanger at the Sandy Shores airfield.

Tips

• Best entry method is to drive a fast car through the south entrance, go left around the first hanger, get to the right of the runway, and speed to the chopper. Ram the guards next to it and kill off a couple others nearby.
• Get a decent amount of rifle ammo and purchase armor if you need it. If you are quick you should only need to take out 3 or 4 guards near the chopper and lift off before more arrive.
• Avoid the other chopper's missiles by turning out of their path. You should be able to just fly away to the airfield without much issue.
• There is no vehicle damage objective so you can actually ram the other chopper with yours to destroy it but you'll run right towards the missiles and can take a lot of damage in the crash. The rugged Cargobob will limp back to the airfield with some puttering but shouldn't stall out.

Objectives

• Mission Time - Complete the mission within 05:30.

The Merryweather Heist

Everyone meets at the condo. Trevor gets a massage from Floyd as Michael and Franklin arrive. Trevor says Lester is in the hospital and they'll save 20% of the cut. Michael and Trevor have a heated conversation before Franklin asks about the plan. Trevor tells them about Merryweather testing some device off the coast. They are going to get it and sell it to whoever Trevor has lined up. The sub and chopper are at the airfield so it's time to head out.

Outside you are SWITCHed to Michael. Drive Trevor's truck or another four-seater with the other two to the airstrip. During the drive Trevor will explain T.P.I. and calls the other two lazy. Closer to the airfield he'll explain the plan a little more. Michael and Franklin will fly in the military chopper and pick up the submarine with Trevor inside. They'll drop him in the ocean and he'll get the device. Trevor will then surface and get flown back to the airfield.

When you arrive at the airfield Floyd will drive up in the truck with the minisub. Get in the chopper with Franklin and fly over the submersible to grab it with the grappling hook. Controls are displayed if needed. When you grab it fly to the test site. Franklin questions all the guns in the helicopter but Trevor says it's a good idea to be prepared. Michael says he doesn't need the attention since he's retired but ends up admitting he robbed Vangelico with Trevor pressing him. When you near the site you'll see two barges. Lower down to the water and drop the sub just past them.

Finding Ariel

SWITCHed to Trevor, dive down and locate the device using the Trackify app in your phone. It will pick up the signal and show a red icon on your phone to move towards. Eventually you'll see some faint lights with a flashing red one. Move your sub into the device to pick it up and return to the surface. When you get there SWITCH to Michael and position the chopper to grab the submersible again. When you have it fly back to the airstrip. Trevor mentions the signal it is putting off can be tracked by Merryweather. Awesome news.

When you get near the shore Merryweather boats will appear below. SWITCH to Franklin who will grab a gun from the back. Shoot at the boats and then a Buzzard helicopter when it appears. You have unlimited ammo and can switch sides when needed. Shoot down the chopper and two more will appear. After they are destroyed more will come from the rear. Hit the button to switch sides which will actually move you to the rear. Take out the helicopter and two more flying around. When all of them are taken down SWITCH to Michael and continue to fly back to Sandy Shores. Release the minisub on the ground.

A furious Lester is waiting for the crew. He tells Trevor all of them will end up on a kill list for taking the superweapon - yes, a superweapon. Lester tells Trevor to take it back immediately. Trevor concedes and tells Michael he still owes him. He also tells Wade to get in the chopper and listen to Lester. Michael and Franklin leave a very upset Trevor alone.

Tips

• The device is a distance away from the barges. Don't go too deep until you get near it to avoid the hilly sea bed.
• After you grab the sub from the water gain altitude so you are high above the water and out of reach of the Merryweather boats. They should explode after a few good hits.
• When facing the Buzzards aim for the pilots to take them down quickly.
• There is no accuracy objective so you can hold the trigger when using Franklin.

Objectives

• Salvager - Find the device within 02:00.
• Mission Time - Complete the mission within 14:30.
• Show no Mercenary - Eliminate all pursuing Merryweather enemies.
• Weathering the Storm - Escape the pursuing Merryweather enemies in less than 4 minutes.