Merryweather Heist Guide

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Merryweather Heist is one of the single-player heist missions included in Grand Theft Auto V. Like other heists in the single-player campaign, Merryweather Heist has two different approaches; we’ll talk about both of them in this Merryweather Heist guide. Here’s everything you need to know about the Merryweather Heist in Grand Theft Auto V without further ado.

Merryweather Heist Preparation

Minisub

Prerequisites For Gold:

  1. Mission Time: Complete the mission within 8 minutes and 30 seconds.
  2. No Boarding: Steal the minisub without boarding the ship.

General Strategy

This mission is exclusive to Trevor, and you need to complete the mission named “Scouting the Port” for this to unlock. After completing “Scouting the Port,” you need to wait for Wade to text you, which will trigger the Hs marker to appear on the map. The Hs marker is the minisub’s location, so keep this in mind.

To get the “No Boarding” achievement, stand at a spot where you can see the minisub hanging and shoot the four cable ties using your sniper or any gun that you have. Once you’ve destroyed the four cable ties, the minisub will fall directly into the water; you now only need to jump and swim towards the sub and go on board.

The next part of this mission involves you driving the sub towards the marker. One great tip to finish this mission quickly is staying above the bottom floor, which prevents you from bumping into obstacles.

Finally, for the last part of the mission, once you’ve gotten into the marker, you need to drive the truck toward the warehouse, and that part finishes the mission.

Cargobob

Merryweather Heist Preparation
Image from Wiki Fandom

Prerequisites For Gold:

  1. Mission Time: Complete the mission within 5 minutes and 30 seconds.

General Strategy

The game will instantly give you a four-star wanted level once you get into the airbase to steal the Cargobob. You should directly head towards the black chopper at the other end of the entrance and kill the pilot. This step ensures that no helicopters will immediately follow you once you hop onto the Cargobob.

Take the Cargobob and go to the marker. While at this point, make sure to get used to flying this vehicle. Also, if Michael does not have a high enough flying skill, you will need to take him to a flying school and increase his flying stat.

It may take you a few attempts to get a gold medal in this mission, but it’s relatively straightforward once you get used to it.

Preparation For Both Approaches (Freighter and Offshore)

You need to complete only the Minisub mission for the Freighter Approach, and Trevor will call Franklin. Trevor will advise Franklin to practice at the shooting range to improve Franklin’s shooting skills.

Meanwhile, if you want to go for the Offshore Approach, you need to complete both of these preparations, and Trevor will call Michael this time. Trevor will tell Michael to go to a Flight School to improve his pilot skills (flying stat.)

Freighter Approach

Merryweather Heist Guide
Image from Wiki Fandom

Mission Objectives

  • Find A Vehicle (You play as Trevor)
  • Go to the Miriam Turner Overpass (You play as Trevor)
  • Cover Michael while he sets the bombs (You play as Franklin)
  • Plant the four bombs (You play as Michael)
  • Cover Michael so he can escape the ship (You play as Franklin)
  • Detonate the bombs (You play as Franklin)
  • Find the device among the ship wreckage (You play as Michael)
  • Go to the device (You play as Trevor)
  • Take the device to the secured area (You play as Trevor)

Prerequisites for Gold

  1. Headshots: Kill 12 enemies via Headshot
  2. Accuracy: Finish with at least a shooting accuracy of 80%
  3. Ninja: Kill 12 enemies via stealth attacks
  4. No Alarms: Get inside the ship’s interior without being detected.
  5. Container Hunter: Find the container within 60 seconds

General Strategy

Infiltrating the Ship and Planting The Bombs

Here are the TLDR tips for this entire section:

  • Kill all of the other guards first, and kill the two guards near Michael last. Going from left to right helps.
  • Keep track of your headshot count here; you need 12 headshots to complete the prerequisite for the Gold Medal.
  • Switching from thermal vision to normal vision while in scoped mode helps a lot to know the enemies’ positioning.
  • Do not panic when guards are shooting at you; another thing to keep in mind is that you need at least 80% accuracy throughout the entire heist.
  • Wait until the helicopter stays in front of you before you shoot the driver; this will help you get a better shot.
  • If you’re vying for Gold, the easiest way to get 12 stealth kills would be to alternate between Franklin and Michael in the “planting the bombs” segment. Get a guard in Michael’s line of sight and have Franklin (controlled by the A.I.) take out the guard or take them out while controlling Michael himself. This method still counts as a stealth kill. For the 12 headshots, you can rack them up once Michael has planted all of the bombs and guards start coming in from different directions.

The first objective is straightforward, get to the marker as Trevor, and the game will introduce the next bit. Michael (Controlled by an A.I.) will plant bombs across the ship for the next segment, and Franklin (Controlled by the player) will have to cover Michael. This segment is where you can rack up those headshot counts as you’ll be playing as a sniper.

One good trick for this objective is to go from left to right, or sometimes, in between, instead of killing the two guards near Michael. Killing the two guards near Michael will cause the A.I. to enter the ship immediately, which will prompt you to “hold” Michael’s hand through the area. This segment should be easy as long as you don’t kill the two guards; however, if you want to get the gold achievement, you need to focus on using Michael for this segment and do all the stealth kills yourself.

After disposing of the guards, you can now switch to Michael, who will plant the explosives, which you can easily do now. Once Michael enters the ship’s interiors, an alarm will go off. The game switches you directly to Franklin to dispose of the enemies again; however, they know your position this time. Remember to finish the entire heist with at least 80% accuracy.

Usually, this spot is where people panic and miss their shots due to the looming threat of gunfire. Once you take out the men in their vehicles (there are two sets of them,) a chopper will confront you head-on. You only need to wait for the helicopter to stay on your level before firing your shot at the driver, destroying the chopper.

Lastly, more guards will spawn after Michael finishes planting the bombs. Make sure that you swap between the thermal vision mode of the sniper rifle to help you further assess where the enemies are.

Detonating The Bomb And Finding The Device

Here are the TLDR tips for this entire section:

  • Be mindful of the device’s location through the Sonar readings.
  • Find the device as fast as possible for the 100% completion (60 seconds)

After Michael leaves the ship, you will switch back to Franklin to detonate the bombs, and then the game forces you back to Michael. As Michael, you have to find the device based on the sonar readings (it pings the device’s location and projects a circle away from the target.) Complete this as fast as possible since you have exactly 60 seconds to find the device to achieve 100% completion.

Once Michael finds the device, you will switch to Trevor, driving the minisub. As Trevor, you only need to move towards the device, which fortunately automatically attaches to the minisub, and drive towards the objective. The mission will end as soon as the minisub gets to the final marker (yellow ring underwater.)

Offshore Approach

Merryweather Heist Offshore Approach
Image from Wiki Fandom

Mission Objectives

  • Go to the Sandy Shores Airfield (You play as Michael)
  • Enter in the Cargobob (You play as Michael)
  • Pick the Submarine (You play as Michael)
  • Go to the location of the tests (You play as Michael)
  • Release the submarine close to the location of the tests (You play as Michael)
  • Use the Trackify application to find the device (You play as Trevor)
  • Pick up the device (You play as Trevor)
  • Go to the surface (You play as Trevor)
  • Pick up the submarine (You play as Michael)
  • Destroy all the Merryweather reinforcements (You play as Franklin)
  • Go back to the Sandy Shores Airfield (You play as Michael)

Prerequisites for Gold

  1. Salvager: Find the container within two minutes
  2. Mission time: Complete the entire heist within 14:30
  3. Show no Mercenary: Eliminate all Merryweather enemies.
  4. Weathering the Storm: Escape the pursuing Merryweather enemies in less than four minutes.

General Strategy

Traveling to Sandy Shores, Picking Up the Minisub, and Driving the Minisub to Get the Device

Here are the TLDR tips for this entire section:

  • Skip the cutscenes to save time; you need to complete the entire heist in less than 14 minutes and 30 seconds.
  • Be very careful when driving the Cargobob; crashing will result in a checkpoint, meaning you can’t get 100% completion for the current run.
  • Using a Controller is much more convenient when using the Cargobob; it is an essential skill to master since grabbing the Minisub after it surfaces can be really tedious.

Get in for a long ride as the opening segment takes quite a while since you need to travel to Sandy Shores. Once you’re at the Sandy Shores area, you take control of Michael, where you need to drive the Cargobob and pick up the Minisub. After picking up the minisub, you need to go to the yellow marker on the map.

Once you reach the yellow marker, the game will switch you directly to Trevor to drive the Minisub. You have to utilize the sensor on your phone to detect the device. After lowering the Minisub to pick up the device, you now need to ascend to the surface.

After climbing to the surface, you need to switch back to Michael to pick up the submarine using the Cargobob. Just a quick tip, it’s easier to control the Cargobob by using a controller (at least in my experience.)

Escaping/Confronting the Merryweather Guards

  • Kill all Merryweather Guards; it’s the most straightforward objective for 100% completion.
  • Be very careful when lowering the Minisub to the marker; I have personal experience wherein the Minisub exploded because the Cargobob got too low.

A new objective will pop up, saying that you need to defend yourselves against the Merryweather Guards. You need to switch to Franklin/Michael and fend off the pursuers. Remember, at this point, you have to kill all of them to achieve 100% in this mission. Michael will also tell you that that’s all of the enemies, and you now have a new objective.

Now, everything is smooth sailing; you only need to go to the marker and lower the Minisub.

Merryweather Heist Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Do you Get Any Money From the Merryweather Heist?

Answer: Unfortunately, this heist is the only one that doesn’t provide any monetary reward due to further progress the narrative of Grand Theft Auto V’s story. If you’re looking to make tons of money in the single-player campaign, consider doing Lester’s assassination mission, Random Encounters, or you can try to hit armored trucks.

Question: What’s the Best Option For the Merryweather Heist?

Answer: Personally, I feel that the Freighter Approach is the most accessible and most convenient approach to go for if you’re trying to get through to the main storyline. However, if you want to have a more dynamic and explosive experience, then I suggest going for the Offshore approach.

Question: What’s the Hardest Heist in Grand Theft Auto V?

Answer: The hardest heist in the single-player campaign would be the finale heist called “The Big Score,” which is fitting considering it is the final mission. As for the Grand Theft Auto Online, I’d have to say it’s the Doomsday Heist; although I haven’t played the new Diamond Casino Heist, from what I have watched on youtube, I still have to go with the Doomsday Heist to be the most difficult out of them all.

Conclusion

The Merryweather heist is a fun mission to play repeatedly; however, it can get very frustrating to achieve 100% completion for this heist. Hopefully, some of the tips here helped you complete the entire heist.

If this guide helped you, check out some of our other article guides!

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