This is your ultimate guide to starting from Level 1 in GTA Online, covering everything you need to know to start a new character.

GTA Online has been out for over a decade, and people are still playing it to this day and even starting out a fresh Level 1 account for a new journey. For veterans who played the game for a long time, it’s easy to make millions in the game in just a day. However, for newer players, it can be a bit confusing where to start with so much content released in the past years. While all content does provide cash and RP, there are exceptional ones that are much better at generating money than other sources.
To help you with your journey, here are some tips and tricks on the best way you can start GTA Online at Level 1 in the year 2025.
Important Tips for Beginners When Starting a New Character in GTA Online
Rockstar Games has added a ton of new content with each update in GTA Online. These can be new missions, businesses, or even simple ones like 2x or 3x RP and Cash rewards in the game. Your main goal when starting out fresh in the game is to earn enough money to buy the Kosatka submarine.
Increase the Right Stats in Character Creation

In the character creation, you have a chance to allocate a bit of points to your stats. We recommend you raise your Strength, Stealth, and possibly Swimming. Most of the stats like Shooting and Driving will eventually increase as you play the game.
However, stats like Strength and Swimming can be a bit tricky to level up. This is because you won’t have much opportunity to use mechanics that help increase their levels. For context, Strength provides damage reduction and speeds up most actions in the game like climbing ladders. Swimming, on the other hand, allows you to hold your breath longer underwater.
If you are curious, here are some tricks you can do to quickly increase your Strength in GTA Online.
Grab Your First Armored Car

You can get a free Duke O’Death armored vehicle on your first day in GTA Online. You can get this through the Warstock Cache & Carry website through your phone. It’s not the best car out there, but it is free and will help you in the early game.
Eventually, you will need to save money to buy the Karin Kuruma, which is the powerhouse of PvE armored cars. This vehicle makes you near-invincible in missions as long as you have a drive-by weapon with you. But for now, you will settle for the Duke O’Death.
Complete Junk Energy Trial

After you get your first armored car, drive to the nearest Junk Energy Trial challenge for your starter cash. Simply complete this challenge in time, and you will get $50,000 cash. This will be enough to get your first weapon loadout for your first set of missions.
Grab Snacks in Premium Deluxe Motorsport

Snacks are healing items and are very important when doing missions. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend money in convenience stores for them. Simply head to the Premium Deluxe Motorsport and grab the stash of snacks inside.
Raid Stash Houses

Every day, you will see a purple house icon on the map. These are locations where you can raid stash houses for extra cash or supplies if you have a business. Make sure to clear out these stash houses to gain extra cash.
Here is a guide on how you can open the safe inside the stash houses.
Get Weapons From Ammu-Nation

Drive to your nearest Ammu-Nation and browse through their weapons. Get all the weapons that are priced FREE, but also purchase the Special Carbine as it is one of the best assault rifles in the game. Get yourself a silenced pistol too for some of the stealth missions. You don’t have to fully upgrade your purchased weapons for now.
If you feel vulnerable, you can purchase Super Heavy Armor for $500 a piece. However, if you are good with your aim, you won’t be needing too much armor. It’s also quite expensive but does not offer too much protection.
Start the Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid Mission

Once you get your weapons, you are now ready for your first contact mission. Head to the letter V on your map and talk to Vincent to start the Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid. This mission will take around an hour to finish and will reward you with $500,000 cash as a payout alongside a first-time bonus of $50,000 cash for each phase of the heist you complete. You can finish the whole operation solo.
Here is a full walkthrough of the Cluckin’ Bel farm Raid if you need help with each setup.
Complete the First Dose Mission

Your next goal is to finish the First Dose Mission in GTA Online. Simply head to the market for the Los Santos Drug Wars where you will meet Dax and his group. The mission will take you to a ton of places where your armored car will be useful.
Each mission you complete for the first time will grant you around $60,000 cash. Completing the whole First Dose mission should net you around $500,000 cash.
Complete the Last Dose Mission

The next part of your journey with Dax and his crew is the Last Dose Mission. Complete this mission to get a free supercar worth $3 million in cash. This car gets added to your garage once you fetch it after a call from Dax.
After completing the missions and setting up The Freakshop hideout, you have the option to build an Acid Lab, possibly your first business in the game. However, hold out on the purchase first as you need the money to purchase the Kosatka submarine for an even bigger source of income.
Earn Money Until You Have $2.2 Million

You should be close to saving $2.2 million in your bank account by now. If you want, you can do one more Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid to get an extra $500,000 cash. Alternatively, you can also seek out the following collectibles:
- Movie Props ($100,000)
- Signal Jammers ($150,000)
- Yuanbao Collectibles: Limited-Time Lunar New Year Event ($119,968)
Hunting for collectibles in GTA Online would allow you to be more familiar with the map as you explore every nook and cranny of these items and challenges.
Once you have enough money to buy the Kosatka submarine, you can purchase it in the Warstock Cache & Carry to finally start the best money-making mission in the game.
Complete Cayo Perico Heist in GTA Online

Once you purchase the Kosatka, you will need to head to the Music Locker in the Diamond Casino. This will trigger a cutscene and start the Cayo Perico Heist. Completing your first run should net you more than $1 million in cash. You can even do this mission solo. However, keep in mind that if you complete the heist solo, the cooldown before you can rerun this again will be much longer.
Here is more information on how you can solo the Cayo Perico Heist in GTA Online along with the possible rewards you can get.
The Grind Continues
Now that you have the best money generator in the game, you can simply rerun this mission whenever it’s ready. You should now be able to rack up a ton of money in just a day of grinding. To keep the money flowing, you need to invest in some businesses that can generate money while you are doing missions.
Best Business To Buy for Beginners in GTA Online
Here are some of the businesses we recommend you purchase in GTA Online, ranked based on how lucrative and accessible they are:
- Acid Lab
- Bunker
- MC Business: Cocaine Lockup, Meth Lab, and Counterfeit Cash
- Hangar or Warehouse
- Nightclub
- Agency
Here is a quick rundown for each business:
Acid Lab

Completing the First and Last Dose Missions will allow you to set up an Acid Lab using the Brickade 6×6 you stole during one of the missions. It will cost you around $750,000 to set this up.
Don’t forget to do at least 10 Fooligan Jobs from Dax to unlock the upgrade for the Acid Lab. This will increase your profits significantly.
Bunker

If you have the Criminal Enterprise starter pack, you get a free Bunker. This is a huge deal as the bunker is where you can get an extra $50,000 every 45 minutes for 8-10 minutes of work. Otherwise, you will need to purchase a bunker. Make sure you purchase the upgrade to your bunker to increase production and make your supplies last longer.
For your first few days, focus your manpower on doing research. Keep the research going until you unlock the explosive rounds. Other special ammos are nice, but they are nowhere near as useful as explosive bullets. A Heavy Sniper MK II with explosive rounds can one-shot unarmed vehicles in the game.
Once you get your explosive rounds, get a Terrorbyte from the Warstock Cache & Carry. It’s better than the Mobile Operations Center as you can also set up a weapons workshop to upgrade your weapons and attach special ammunition. This truck is also where you upgrade the Oppressor MK II if you save enough to afford it in the future.
MC Business: Cocaine Lockup, Meth Lab, and Counterfeit Cash

The reason why you need to establish these businesses is for your Nightclub. You don’t have to upgrade or manage them. Just let them be active with or without supplies. You will need a clubhouse to purchase this business in the game.
Hangar or Warehouse

This is also part of a setup for the Nightclub. Just purchase the cheapest warehouse or hangar and leave them active. You don’t need to upgrade or manage them if you don’t want to.
Nightclub

Once you get all 5 businesses active, you can then purchase the Nightclub. Make sure you purchase all the upgrades to make it more efficient. Hire all five workers and assign them to each of the businesses. They will start accumulating supplies that you can deliver for massive gains.
Aside from the sell missions, the Nightclub also makes passive income through the wall safe. Every 45 minutes in real life, you get $50,000 added to the wall safe if you have high popularity. The lower the popularity, the less money you get every 45 minutes. There are multiple ways you can increase your popularity. However, the easiest one is simply kicking out troublemakers or driving VIPs to hospitals or their homes. You can do these missions once every 45 minutes.
Agency

Last but not the least is the Agency. This unlocks the Dr. Dre contract missions that grant around a $1 million payout. It won’t be as lucrative and quick as the Cayo Perico Heist, but you can do them both for extra cash.
Another advantage of the Agency is you also get a wall safe that passively accumulates cash. The money you get starts small, but as you complete more contract missions from the Agency, it can go up as high as $20,000 per 45 minutes.
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