Remember when the toughest player owned vehicle you could encounter was a tank? Yeah, those days are long gone. GTA Online has become known for griefers destroying cargo with oppresors and other over-powered vehicles that take days of playtime to acquire. It’s so bad that if you find yourself in a big lobby, it might just be a good idea to hold off on risky activities such as selling, entirely. Low level players at least used to have a fighting chance against a buzzard or a tank, but now you can look forward to getting blown up with an oppressor 8 times in the span of three minutes.
As annoying as the player base can be, NPC’s certainly play their part in making you want to throw your controller at the wall. We’re not talking about Lester calling about a heist or English Dave frantically begging you to drop 200 grand on a DJ. No, this is a list of standard NPC’s you will encounter across GTA Online.
Let’s get started.
Headhunter Bodyguards
Headhunter Bodyguards may just be the single most overpowered NPC’s found in GTA Online. They fire back at the player with pinpoint accuracy to the point of effortlessly shooting down buzzards with sub-machine guns. It will take multiple rockets and/or sticky bombs to disable the target car and when it eventually is disabled, the bodyguards get out of the car and continue firing.
Multiple head-shots with a shotgun can’t stop headhunter bodyguards, and they’ll even continue pursuing you after the target is eliminated, should you fail to take them out.
Gang Attacks
Nothing is more annoying than going to a vehicle or mission and finding it right next to a gang attack. Go near the red gang attack circle and expect to be opened up on by NPC’s that are easy to defeat, but annoying nonetheless.
GTA Online has cut down on gang attacks in recent years but at one point, they were everywhere and unavoidable. Nine times out of ten they’re guarding some construction site or some empty lot, which makes total sense. Gang attacks don’t really pay out in terms of cash and can maybe result in some ammo depending on supply levels.
Other than that, gang attacks are a mini-game that just gets rather annoying after a while and people get sick of the NPC’s.
“MENDOZA’S BEEN HIT”!
Street Gangs
GTA: V and GTA Online both pay homage to GTA: San Andreas with the inclusion of modern versions of the game’s 90’s LA street gangs. The game features grove street and the grove street gang, which was of course the gang that the player character was affiliated with in GTA: San Andreas.
In GTA: V, grove street is taken over by their bitter rivals, the Ballas. Grove street wears green where as the Ballas wear purple. There’s also the Vagos, a Mexican street gang that can be found in certain neighborhoods.
While it’s cool to see this included in the game, street gangs can be the most deadly NPC’s on GTA Online. Fire a gun in one of their neighborhoods, and at least a dozen NPC’s will open up from all angles. As the fight goes on, more gang members will get out of their vehicles and begin firing on the player. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed, and it is insanely annoying during a mission.
One of the cheapest vehicle warehouses is located in a Vagos neighborhood and boy, does that get old. Nothing is worse than having a vehicle right next to your garage only to come under fire from the Vagos.
Still, I find this one more fun than anything. It’s always fun to call in a merryweather chopper, fire a gun in the air then watch the fireworks.
NPC Traffic
The NPC traffic in GTA: V has this magical ability to be able to swerve in front of the player during the most crucial moments in driving missions. If any action takes place, expect the NPC traffic to start driving frantically and almost certainly run you over. This will get you killed during spats with other players.
Plus, online NPC’s have the audacity to call in a bounty on player characters for stealing their vehicles. Some even possess the ability to text “you stole my ride, you’ll be on a slab soon” from the grave. Wild.
The Police
Last but certainly not least we have the police. The GTA online cops are some brilliant satire making fun of American police, ready to whip guns out for simply looking at them wrong. They also yell hilarious insults and go to their weapons for just a one star offense.
Stand in front of a cop car for too long? GTA online cops will hop out of their squad car, gun you down, then drive away like it was nothing. I once saw a hapless NPC driver get gunned down by cops all because they scratched a squad car while the police were in a shootout with a street gang. It was like animal kingdom: annoying GTA NPC edition.
Anyways, GTA V cops are cartoon characters a stark contrast to their GTA: IV counterparts. If calling Lester wasn’t an option, the cops would make GTA online borderline unplayable. At least they provide plenty of entertainment.
Don’t forget merryweather on the kasotka prep for cayo perico.