The Pacific Standard Job is the finale of GTA Online’s original heist strand: a full-crew raid on the Pacific Standard bank in Vinewood with a pot of up to $1,875,000 on hard difficulty ($1,500,000 on normal) — the biggest of the classic apartment heists, with the elite challenge and first-time bonuses stacking on top of that. Unlike Cayo Perico, there is no solo option here — every setup and the finale require exactly four players. To see what your cut looks like after the host’s split, run it through the heist payout planner, and see where it lands against everything else in the heists ranked guide.
What you need
The host needs a high-end apartment with a heist planning room — the same one that unlocks the whole original strand from Fleeca to Pacific Standard. If you’re buying one anyway, buy it once and host all five.
The armored Kuruma trivializes most of the setups — Vans, Hack and Convoy all involve driving through gunfire, and bulletproof windows turn those firefights into errands. It’s the single best quality-of-life purchase for the original heists.
You also need three other players who will actually finish the job. Pacific Standard punishes quitters harder than any other heist — a full-crew wipe or a rage-quit resets the setup you’re on.
The five setups
- Vans — the crew splits into two driver/navigator pairs. Navigators use the Trackify app to hunt down Post OP vans across the city and find the one carrying the transponder, then deliver it.
- Signal — take the transponder out to Avi Schwartzman, a signal expert hiding from the law off the coast of North Chumash, so he can tune it to the bank’s dye packs. Expect a boat ride and Coast Guard-flavored resistance.
- Hack — a rival crew in Vinewood has the hacking rig you need. Take out their guards, swap the van, and get the rig to Paige without wrecking it.
- Convoy — ambush a heavily armed Merryweather convoy in Blaine County and steal the truck carrying thermal charges. The loudest setup of the five; this is where the Kuruma earns its keep.
- Bikes — raid The Lost MC’s clubhouse in east Los Santos and steal four Lectro sport bikes, then stash them near the bank. These are your getaway vehicles in the finale.
Finale roles
The finale splits four players across three jobs:
- Crowd Control (×2) — hold the lobby. Keep your gun on the hostages and keep the intimidation up so nobody triggers the alarm while the vault team works. A loud, scary weapon helps here, and you’ll want real firepower for the escape anyway:
A 100-round box magazine means you can suppress NOOSE waves on the way out without reloading at the worst moment. Give one to each Crowd Control player — they do most of the shooting once the vault team is carrying cash.
- Hacker — works the vault security with the stolen rig. The faster the hack, the more time the vault team has inside.
- Demolition — plants the thermal charges from the Convoy setup on the security doors.
The Hacker and Demolition players grab the cash from the vault — which makes them the money carriers for the entire escape.
Protect the cash
This is the mechanic that decides your payout: every hit the money carriers take knocks bills off the pot, and dropped cash is gone for good. A sloppy escape can burn six figures. To keep the take intact:
- Carriers stay in the middle of the formation — Crowd Control players lead and clear.
- Top up armor and snacks before leaving the bank; never let a carrier tank shotgun cops at close range.
- Move as a unit. A carrier who lags behind is the one the NOOSE focuses.
The escape
The intended route: out the alley to your stashed Lectros, then north up the Great Ocean Highway toward Raton Canyon. At the canyon, ride off the cliff, parachute down, and swim to the waiting Dinghy — the water escape sheds the pursuit.
A popular legit alternative: if someone owns a garage near the bank, pulling out an armored Kuruma and driving the carriers to the boat protects the money far better than open bikes. Skip the outfit and out-of-bounds glitches that circulate for this heist — the legitimate run pays fine, and the clean route is part of why this finale is still the best of the originals.
Elite challenge and bonuses
The elite challenge asks for all three in one run: finish in under 10:15, NOOSE never called, and nobody gets wasted — worth about $100,000 on top of the pot. Long-haul crews should also note the classic challenges: completing all five original heists in order, and the Criminal Mastermind run (all heists in order, on hard, same team, no deaths) with its famous $10,000,000 prize.
Done with the originals? Work backwards through The Prison Break if you skipped any, then graduate to the modern big earners, starting with the Diamond Casino Heist.