GTA Online Career Builder Guide: Which Criminal Career Should You Choose?

Grand Theft Auto Online has a new career builder that new players can use to kickstart their GTA careers, but this can be an overwhelming process for those that are new to the streets of Los Santos. Before the career builder existed, new GTA Online players were thrust into the world without any guidance, forced to resort to guides and other players to learn how to climb the criminal ladder and establish their own businesses. This new process gives players a large sum of cash and a few properties at the start of the game. Here are the best things to choose.

Which Criminal Career is Best?

There are four paths you can choose in the GTA Online career builder: Executive, Gunrunner, Nightclub Owner, and Biker. Each offers its own set of properties and starting equipment, but Executive is the best and easiest path for new players to choose. This comes with an Office and Warehouse that can be used to sell vehicles and special cargo, a money-making method that is still used by many GTA Online players to this day because of its simplicity and payout.

If you want more information about each of the four options, keep reading below to see exactly what they all come with and which upgrades are worth choosing for each path.

Executive

The Executive career path sets you up with an Office and allows you to choose a starting Warehouse to store valuables in. This is the best route that most players will want to choose, and the available upgrades make this choice even better. You should choose the Maze Bank West Office location and the Derriere Lingerie Backlot location for your Warehouse.

Gunrunner

The Gunrunner path gets you started with a Bunker that earns passive income over time.  You have to either steal supplies for the Bunker in special missions or just buy it outright with cash, then you can start a mission to sell your stock after waiting a few hours for it to be manufactured. It’s a more complicated business that’s not recommended for new players. The best location is the Chumash Bunker.

Nightclub Owner

The Nightclub Owner profession pulls from the most recent GTA Online update of the four paths, allowing you to own your very own Nightclub that you can use as a front for some criminal activities. These activities will earn passive income that you can collect from your office after it builds up, and there are unique missions associated with club ownership as well.

Sadly, this path makes the least amount of money and is not recommended. If you want to live out your nightlife fantasies, however, the bets location is the Downtown Vinewood Nightclub.

Biker

Finally, the Biker path puts you in charge of your own Motorcycle Club that you can use to kickstart multiple illicit businesses. The MC on its own isn’t enough to make any money, so you’ll have to buy a separate business to put your employees to work. There are five to choose from in total, but the best ones to choose are the Cocaine Lockups, Counterfeit Cash Factories, and Methamphetamine Labs to get started.

GTA Online Career Builder Upgrades and Weapons

Certain upgrades can get you a headstart on your chosen career path, but they’re not all created equal. If you’re going to be an Executive, there aren’t really any necessary upgrades. For Gunrunners, you’ll want to grab Bunker Pack Upgrade A or D and buy the  Equipment Upgrade as well as the Staff Upgrade.

For Nightclub Owners, you shouldn’t get any upgrades aside from the Omega Interior because that gets you a useful Staff Upgrade. Bikers should invest in the Staff Upgrade as well because that will help you make the most money in that line of work.

As for vehicles, all players should purchase the Karin Kuruma (Armored) regardless of which career path they choose. This is an armored car that will protect you from enemies and other players, and you can use it throughout your entire GTA Online career. You should also buy the Benefactor Terrorbyte if you choose the Nightclub Owner path, as it unlocks unique Client Job missions and lets you manage certain businesses from a remote location.

Finally, the starting weapon selection is pretty lame, but you will unlock more guns as you level up and expand your criminal empire. To start off, however, you should buy the Heavy Pistol, a trusty sidearm that will remain useful well into your GTA Online career. You should also buy a Homing Launcher or some other explosive devices as they’ll come in handy on some missions and heists. Make sure to stop buy Ammu-Nation to upgrade these weapons as well.

Grand Theft Auto Online is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.