Heists
Planning the Big Score
Act III · Lucia & Jason
- Location
- Raul's Safehouse
- Protagonists
- Lucia & Jason
- Summary
- Crew select, approach confirm, and budget the final vault job. Remapped Planning the Big Score.
Mission briefing
Planning the Big Score is a Heists mission in Act III, playable as Lucia & Jason and set primarily in Raul's Safehouse. Crew select, approach confirm, and budget the final vault job. Remapped Planning the Big Score.
Inside the Leonida campaign structure, this entry feeds the Heists thread: its contacts, tone, and unlocks matter more to that lane than to unrelated hubs. Finishing it advances Stingers · Gauntlet · Driller · Sidetracked, with an immediate listed payout of Prep mission set unlocked.
Tone-wise, Act III missions in this category mix free-roam travel with scripted set-pieces. You should expect driving, on-foot objectives, and at least one surprise that forces a change of plan - a chase, a betrayal, a wanted-level spike, or a dual-character switch.
Scout the pause map before committing to the first yellow pin. Players who learn district exits in Raul's Safehouse finish cleaner and medal faster than players who only follow the GPS line.
There is one backbone path, but dialogue picks and how loudly you resolve encounters can still change later mission lines and relationship outcomes.
Location guide
Planning the Big Score anchors on Raul's Safehouse. Planning board UI territory. Treat it as a hub - leave fully geared before launching linked prep missions.
Before the mission marker goes active, ride the block once in free roam if you can. Note one-way streets, garages, alley motorcycle cuts, and any water ramps. That five-minute scout saves restarts when the alarm hits.
Ambient threats in this district match the Heists fantasy: Private security opens most scores; police, then air units, then multi-agency response follow the alarm timeline.
If you fail and restart, your world position usually snaps to the checkpoint - but ambient wanted level and damaged personal vehicles may persist depending on how the checkpoint was written. Re-armor before re-entering the hot zone.
Objectives
- Review vault intel
- Hire crew specialists
- Assign roles
- Launch prep checklist
Recommended loadout
Pack a carbine or assault rifle with extended magazines, a shotgun for doorways and interiors, full body armor, max snacks, and either a high-handling sports car or a motorcycle for alley escapes. Heavy weapons (RPG, MG) belong in the backup vehicle - not always in your hands at mission start - so you are not slow during the opening stealth or social beat. Dual-character note: gear both Lucia and Jason before the mission. Switches mid-fight leave the idle partner on their last weapon and armor state.
Opposition & threats
Private security opens most scores; police, then air units, then multi-agency response follow the alarm timeline. Rival crews may attempt mid-escape theft of the take on larger jobs.
Detailed walkthrough
Board UI mission. Better crew costs more but eases the finale. Confirm Subtle or Obvious.
Mission start & preparation
Mission start places Lucia & Jason in or near Raul's Safehouse. Before you touch the first objective marker, open the full map and note police stations, hospitals, garages, and any water routes - Planning the Big Score punishes players who improvise without geography.
Read every line of the phone, corkboard, or in-person brief. Rockstar-style Leonida missions often hide soft fail conditions in dialogue: do not kill a contact, do not leave the district, keep a vehicle intact, or protect a VIP. Crew select, approach confirm, and budget the final vault job. Remapped Planning the Big Score.
Recommended opening routine: repair or replace your vehicle, buy armor and snacks if a shop is available, set a waypoint to the primary pin, and approach without sideswiping traffic. Early wanted stars almost never help a gold medal run.
Planning board UI territory. Treat it as a hub - leave fully geared before launching linked prep missions.
Walkthrough overview
Quick reference walkthrough: Board UI mission. Better crew costs more but eases the finale. Confirm Subtle or Obvious.
Rewards on completion: Prep mission set unlocked. Unlocks tied to this mission: Stingers · Gauntlet · Driller · Sidetracked.
This mission follows a single primary path. How loud you play and which dialogue choices you pick can still alter later banter, relationship flags, and optional contacts.
Walkthrough - Review vault intel
Objective 1 of 4: Review vault intel.
This opens Planning the Big Score. Travel to the marker without farming wanted stars. Use the approach roads around Raul's Safehouse that keep you off camera clusters and police stations. If a cutscene plays on arrival, your loadout and vehicle state carry through - arrive prepared.
Stay oriented on the mini-map. Heists missions in Act III often spawn secondary markers (escape vehicles, allies, or optional loot) that are easy to miss under fire.
Planning board UI territory. Treat it as a hub - leave fully geared before launching linked prep missions.
Walkthrough - Hire crew specialists
Objective 2 of 4: Hire crew specialists.
Mid-mission objective in Raul's Safehouse. Expect the resistance level to rise compared to the previous pin. Clear the immediate area, complete the interaction or combat beat, then reassess ammo and armor before moving on.
Gameplay tip: this is often where Planning the Big Score teaches or stresses a mechanic - hacking, trailing, intimidation, boat handling, or protagonist switching. Failures commonly restart at a mid-checkpoint rather than the mission start.
Planning board UI territory. Treat it as a hub - leave fully geared before launching linked prep missions.
Walkthrough - Assign roles
Objective 3 of 4: Assign roles.
Mid-mission objective in Raul's Safehouse. Expect the resistance level to rise compared to the previous pin. Clear the immediate area, complete the interaction or combat beat, then reassess ammo and armor before moving on.
Complication tip: plans break here on purpose. Prioritize the objective over perfect cleanup. Civilians and side enemies only matter if a gold criterion calls them out.
Planning board UI territory. Treat it as a hub - leave fully geared before launching linked prep missions.
Walkthrough - Launch prep checklist
Objective 4 of 4: Launch prep checklist.
This is the closing beat. Board UI mission. Better crew costs more but eases the finale. Confirm Subtle or Obvious. Confirm gold-sensitive conditions before you trigger the end marker: vehicle health, VIP health, wanted level, and any cargo integrity. Once the final cutscene starts, you usually cannot reverse a failed criterion.
Stay oriented on the mini-map. Heists missions in Act III often spawn secondary markers (escape vehicles, allies, or optional loot) that are easy to miss under fire.
Planning board UI territory. Treat it as a hub - leave fully geared before launching linked prep missions.
Escape, delivery & cleanup
When the last combat or interaction objective clears, Planning the Big Score still requires a clean handoff. Lose heat with tunnels, public garages, mangrove blinds, district borders, or chop shops depending on where Raul's Safehouse sits in Leonida.
Deliver cargo, intel, cash, or VIPs to the final marker with integrity intact. Damaged vehicles and bleeding allies can fail gold after an otherwise perfect shootout.
Do not skip the debrief cutscene on a first playthrough - Stingers · Gauntlet · Driller · Sidetracked often appear as map icons or phone contacts immediately afterward. Save manually if you are about to chain heist prep.
Fail conditions & restarts
Common fail states in Planning the Big Score include death of a required character, destruction of a mission-critical vehicle, abandoning the mission area for too long, or killing a contact the brief told you to keep alive.
Wanted-level soft fails appear on stealth-leaning medals even when the story continues. If you are hunting gold, treat stars as a fail and checkpoint-restart rather than fighting the whole district.
On dual-character missions, letting the idle partner die in the world while you play the other can still fail the mission - watch both health bars when the UI shows them.
Gold medal strategy
Gold medal checklist for Planning the Big Score:
- 1. Full crew hired
- 2. Budget under cap optional
- 3. Plan confirmed
Strategy: run a learning attempt to memorize routes, spawn points, and fail triggers. Then replay specifically for medals with cutscenes skipped and a pre-staged loadout.
If a criterion conflicts with another (speed vs stealth, for example), prioritize the harder one on a dedicated replay - many players unlock gold across two focused attempts rather than one perfect run.
After gold pops, you can freely replay for fun or collectibles without worrying about medal state.
Gold medal criteria
- Full crew hired
- Budget under cap optional
- Plan confirmed
Tips & tricks
- Replay from the last checkpoint if a gold criterion fails late - Planning the Big Score evaluates medals per attempt, not across combined sessions.
- Stock snacks, armor, and ammo before accepting the mission; Raul's Safehouse does not always expose a shop once the script locks the area.
- Open the pause map during the opening drive and pin a hospital plus a garage. Planning the Big Score rarely gives you time to browse mid-chase.
- Gold timers usually start after the opening cutscene ends - skip dialogue on medal attempts only once you know every trigger point.
- Before the score cutscene, mark a secondary escape on the map. Primary routes clog with scripted traffic the moment the alarm hits.
- If your stolen ride is smoking, swap to Lucia's nearby default vehicle - story spawns are usually undamaged and untraceable.
- Death during the final delivery drive can void payouts on heist-tier missions even after objectives show complete. Survive until the mission-passed banner.
Aftermath
When Planning the Big Score completes, the game grants Stingers · Gauntlet · Driller · Sidetracked. Cash, gear, and contacts listed under Prep mission set unlocked apply after the mission-passed state - not merely after the last shootout.
Narrative aftermath depends on cleanliness and any mid-mission choices (spare/kill, approach, loyalty). First-completion flags usually stick even if you replay for gold later.
Suggested follow-up: open the missions catalog and queue other Act III entries in Heists, restock in or near Raul's Safehouse, and check the phone for new texts from characters this mission advanced.
If this was heist prep, return to the planning board before starting unrelated side content - some assets despawn or require re-acquire if you wait too long in certain designs. Chain prep while the board is hot.
Rewards & unlocks
- Rewards
- Prep mission set unlocked
- Unlocks
- Stingers · Gauntlet · Driller · Sidetracked
Trivia
- Planning the Big Score adapts classic GTA mission pacing into Leonida's Raul's Safehouse geography - compare its beat list to similarly themed heists missions from earlier mainline games.
- This dossier's lead image is sourced from ue-rideout-customs-01.jpg in the site media library.
- Tracked objectives: 4. Gold criteria: 3. Act placement: Act III.
- Heist-tier entries typically contribute more to late-game bank balance than story errands, but they also raise federal heat flags used by later missions.
- Playable cast label: Lucia & Jason. Primary setting pin: Raul's Safehouse.
- Short summary retained for cards and SEO: “Crew select, approach confirm, and budget the final vault job. Remapped Planning the Big Score.”
