San Andreas Mercenaries

The San Andreas Mercenaries DLC in GTA Online introduces Charlie Reed and his mercenary corp, pitting players against the formidable Merryweather Security.

This page will explain how to start the DLC, give you an understanding of the new Operations Terminal in your Mammoth Avenger, provide links to walkthroughs for the Project Overthrow story missions and repeatable LSA Operations, as well as an overview of your potential earnings from all these activities.

Starting the San Andreas Mercenaries DLC

When you log into the game after the update, you will receive a call from Charlie Reed. After the call, players can see the 'C' icon on the map, an abbreviation for Charlie Reed.

If you do not get a call from Charlie Reed, you can always head to the 'C' location and enter the white highlighted marker. This marker will be there, regardless of whether you get a call from Charlie Reed or not. If he calls you first, the market turns yellow.

After the call, you will be asked to make a hefty purchase before you can begin your San Andreas Mercenaries missions. Not only do you need to purchase the Mammoth Avenger from the Warstock Cache & Carry online store, but you also need to get a new Operations Terminal upgrade to start the missions.

The base model of the Avenger costs $3,450,000, and the fully upgraded version costs $4,787,500 - that's the reason why many players haven't been able to purchase this behemoth since its release tgoether with the Doomsday Heist! The Operations Terminal will set you back by another $1,450,000.

You can purchase the Operations Terminal by visiting the Warstock Cache & Carry website and renovating the Avenger. You can also do the same by visiting a Hangar, if you own one.

Operations Terminal

You can access the Operations Terminal by entering the hold of your Avenger. You do not need to go to your Hangar or any other building to access it. You can always call in your Avenger via your interaction menu and enter the hold to access the Operations Terminal. That is where you can start your San Andreas Mercenaries missions as well.

The Operations Terminal offers two types of missions — Project Overthrow and LSA Operations. Let's discuss what each of these offer and what to expect.

Project Overthrow

Project Overthrow is a series of main storyline missions of the San Andreas Mercenaries DLC. It consists of six story missions around taking down Merryweather Security and solidifying Charlie Reed's mercenary presence in Los Santos. You can perform these missions in both public and invite-only sessions. These missions offer payouts upon completion, which vary based on difficulty.

Important Avenger Upgrades

Before we get into the missions, it is imperative that you get the Missile Lock-Jammer and Missile Launcher upgrades for your Avenger.

You can access these upgrades by taking your Avenger to your Hangar and going to the Charlie Upgrades category. These upgrades will make missions revolving around the Avenger much easier.

Project Overthrow Mission Guides

The following are the walkthroughs for all six Project Overthrow story missions:

• Reporting for Duty
• Falling In
• On Parade
• Breaking Ranks
• Unconventional Warfare
• Shock & Awe

LSA Operations

LSA Operations are freemode missions like security contracts. These missions come in different varieties with additional rewards for completing bonus challenges. You can also start these missions by contacting Charlie Reed from your phone. You can perform these missions in both public and invite-only sessions.

Three random missions appear on the Operations Terminal with a random base reward and a bonus objective. These bonus objectives are also random and pay $15,000 per mission. While the bonus payout is fixed, the base payout is always random.

Once you complete a single mission, you get a 20-minute cooldown timer before you can attempt another LSA Operations mission. There are two difficulty levels: Professional and Specialist. The Professional level rewards players anywhere between $45,000 and $55,000, while the Specialist pays between $60,000 and $70,000.

If you have associates in your organization, they will always receive a fixed amount of $30,000, regardless of the difficulty level. The bonus payment for the completion of bonus objective remains the same for everyone.

The following is a list of all the missions with bonus objectives:

• Direct Action: Bonus: Plant tracking devices on crates.Bonus: Eliminate the armored gunner.Bonus: Steal the F-160 Raiju and deliver it.

• Surgical Strike: Bonus: Photograph the blueprints.Bonus: Steal Merryweather outfit.Bonus: Steal mysterious artifact.

• Whistleblower: Bonus: Recover the case file.Bonus: Destroy the backup generator.Bonus: Upload a virus to the mainframe.

Completing each mission for the first time will also reward you with an outfit. The following are the outfits you unlock for each mission:

• The Infiltrator (Direct Action)
• Merryweather Outfit (Surgical Strike)
• The Shade Outfit (Whistleblower)

LSA Operations provide a good way to earn money and experience the mercenary lifestyle introduced in the San Andreas Mercenaries DLC.

San Andreas Mercenaries Payouts

Your primary sources of income from the San Andreas Mercenaries content are the Project Overthrow story missions and the repeatable LSA Operations.

Project Overthrow Payouts

The six Project Overthrow missions provide payouts that scale with difficulty. For a detailed breakdown of earnings for each mission on Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties, please see our dedicated payouts guide.

LSA Operations Payouts

LSA Operations offer dynamic payouts based on difficulty and completion of bonus objectives:

• Professional Difficulty: $45,000 – $55,000
• Specialist Difficulty: $60,000 – $70,000
• Bonus Objective Completion: Additional $15,000
• Associate Payout: Associates in an organization receive a fixed $30,000 per LSA Operation, regardless of difficulty. The bonus payment is awarded to all participants.
• Cooldown: A 20-minute cooldown applies after completing an LSA Operation.
• First-Time Outfit Rewards: Completing each LSA Operation type (Direct Action, Surgical Strike, Whistleblower) for the first time unlocks a specific outfit.

We have an entire article detailing all the mission payouts, difficulty modifiers, and other reward details for the San Andreas Mercenaries update.