Last updated: 11 July 2026

GTA 5 Beginner's Guide — First Hours in Los Santos

Grand Theft Auto V drops you into Los Santos — a sprawling open world modelled on Los Angeles — with three very different protagonists, a 30-plus-hour story, and more side activities than you can finish in a week. It can feel overwhelming in the first hour. This guide cuts through the noise: what to do first, how the character-switching system works, how to survive the police, and the one financial mistake almost every new player makes that costs them tens of millions.

01Meet the Three Protagonists

GTA 5 is built around three playable characters, each with their own storyline that interweaves across the main campaign. Understanding who they are helps you understand what the game is asking you to do.

• Franklin Clinton — A street-level hustler from South Los Santos. The tutorial begins with Franklin and he is the 'entry point' character. His special ability slows down time while driving, making car chases and sharp turns much more forgiving.
• Michael De Santa — A retired bank robber living in Rockford Hills. He is the story's narrative anchor and most cinematic character. His special ability slows time in third-person shootouts — similar to bullet time.
• Trevor Philips — Michael's unhinged former partner, living in the desert town of Sandy Shores. He becomes playable later in the story. His special ability activates a rage mode that reduces incoming damage and increases outgoing damage.

You do not choose a main character — all three are part of the same story. Early on you play primarily as Franklin. The game unlocks Michael partway through the prologue missions, and Trevor arrives after a few hours of playtime.

02How Character Switching Works

Once all three characters are unlocked, you can switch between them at almost any time outside of an active mission. On PC, hold Alt and move the mouse to the desired character on the radial menu. On PlayStation, hold down on the D-pad; on Xbox, hold the directional pad down.

When you switch, the game cuts to the new character doing something in their daily life — Trevor might be waking up in a field, Michael could be watching TV. This is one of GTA 5's standout features: each character lives independently when you're not controlling them.

A few rules to know:

• You cannot switch during an active mission — you're locked to whichever character the mission requires (or lets you choose).
• If a character has a yellow blip on their portrait, they want to call you — switch to them to trigger a story moment.
• Switching to another character during a wanted level will not clear the wanted level for the character you left behind.
• Each character has their own bank account, weapons and vehicle garage. Money earned with Michael stays with Michael unless you use the stock market.

03Your First Hour — What to Actually Do

After the prologue (set years before the main story), you land in Los Santos as Franklin. The game will walk you through a few missions automatically. Follow the yellow mission markers — don't try to ignore the story and free-roam immediately, because several features (the map, your safe house, your phone contacts) aren't available until the opening missions unlock them.

Once you have free time, here is the best use of it:

• Complete Simeon's repo missions. These are simple car-retrieve jobs that teach you driving, basic combat, and police evasion. They pay a small amount but are genuinely fun and low-stakes.
• Explore your immediate neighbourhood. The Strawberry and Davis areas near Franklin's house have collectibles, random events, and side activities that give you a feel for the world.
• Buy a pistol from Ammu-Nation — it is the cheapest weapon and you will need it. Don't buy heavy weapons until after the first few heists, when you have real money.
• Do not spend money on cars. The game will give you access to decent vehicles through the story. Early spending on custom cars is almost always wasted if the car gets destroyed in a mission.
• Save manually and often. Auto-saves happen between missions, but the game will not save mid-mission. If you fail, you restart the mission — but your money stays spent. Use a safe house bed to save manually if you're about to try something risky.

04Surviving Wanted Levels

The police in GTA 5 operate on a 1–5 star wanted level system. One star means a patrol car is coming. Five stars means helicopters, armoured police vehicles, and a military-grade response. As a new player, the most important thing is knowing when to run and when to hide.

Stars escalate quickly if you fight back or stay visible. The most reliable escape method is to drive away from the red search zone shown on your minimap and break line of sight — hide in an alley, under a bridge, or inside a building until the blue wanted circle fades. You do not need to destroy police cars; you just need to disappear from their view long enough for the search to end.

• 1–2 stars: Drive away normally. Avoid major roads. Find a parking garage or alley and wait 30–60 seconds.
• 3 stars: A helicopter will be tracking you. Get underground (tunnels, parking garages), or change your vehicle at a garage — LS Customs respray removes your wanted level for $100.
• 4–5 stars: The fastest option is to reach a safe house and save (this clears wanted level), use the LAWYERUP cheat code (PC) to reduce stars, or find any Pay 'n' Spray.
• Franklin's special ability helps here: use it in tight corners or during high-speed chases to avoid crashes that would stall your escape.

Note: using cheat codes disables Achievements and Trophies for the current session. If you are going for 100% completion, avoid cheats during play.

05The Biggest Beginner Mistake — The Stock Market

This is the single most important piece of financial advice for new story mode players: do not spend much money before completing Lester's assassination missions.

During the story, Lester calls you with five assassination contracts. Each one eliminates a business rival, which crashes that company's stock and boosts a competitor. If you invest in the right stock before each mission and sell after, the payoff is enormous — we're talking tens to hundreds of millions of dollars for all three characters combined.

The recommended approach:

• Play the story normally and only do the Hotel Assassination (the first Lester mission) to progress the plot — this one must be done to continue the story.
• Leave the other four Lester assassination missions untouched until after the final heist.
• After the ending, all three characters will have their heist payouts. Then go back and do all four remaining Lester missions in order, investing your full bank balance before each hit and selling afterward.
• The full sequence can net each character $300–500 million if done correctly. This is more money than you could earn from any other activity in the game.

The BAWSAQ and LCN stock markets in your phone's internet browser are where you invest. BAWSAQ is affected by the GTA Online player base as well, so timings can vary — but the targeted assassinations reliably move LCN stocks.

06Key Controls and Mechanics to Know Early

A few mechanics that new players often discover late:

• Cover system: Press Q (PC) or R1/RB to enter cover behind any wall or car. Blind-fire from cover is far safer than standing in the open.
• Phone: Press Up arrow (PC) or Up on D-pad to open your phone. Contacts, internet, music, and mission replay all live here.
• Map blips: Yellow markers = story missions. Blue markers = available side missions. Purple markers = Lester missions. Green = safe houses.
• Ragdoll: If a car crash sends your character flying, tap the jump button rapidly when you hit the ground to recover faster.
• Ammu-Nation gun range: Early medals here unlock weapon discounts — worth visiting before buying a full loadout.
• iFruit app: The in-game smartphone app lets you customise your Chop (Franklin's dog) and (in GTA Online) order a custom licence plate. Minor but fun.
• Hitchhiker events: Random pedestrian encounters appear as blue dots on the map. Some reward money or unique vehicles, and a few are story-relevant.