GTA Vice City Vigilante missions are part of a challenging side quest that earns you little in practical terms but is necessary if you want 100% completion. This walkthrough guide to Vigilante Missions includes how to start them, tips for clearing each, and what you get for your efforts, along with an update for GTA: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition release for Xbox, PC, Switch, and PS5.

How to Start Vigilante Missions

Vigilante missions task you with tracking and killing criminals in various places around the city. You’ll start by grabbing a police vehicle and tracking down your first target, but once you begin, you can’t stop until you’ve cleared all stages. If you do fail or stop, Vigilante resets to the first phase, so make sure you have plenty of time to finish before initiating this particular quest.

Once you begin, you’ll have three minutes to find your target. You can either force them out of their car and kill them or destroy the car, and once you’re successful, the timer refreshes as you track down your next target.

The option to start Vigilante shows up as soon as you enter a police vehicle. Those include:
? VCPD Cheetah
? VCPD Wintergreen
? FBI Washington
? FBI Cruiser
? FBI Car
? FBI Rancher
? Police Car
? Ranger
? Rhino
? Enforcer
? Barracks OL
? HPV-1000
? Hunter
? S.W.A.T.

Once you enter the vehicle, a prompt appears telling you what to press if you want to begin the Vigilante mission.

How to Complete Vigilante Missions

The side quest has 12 levels, and each naturally gets more difficult. By the time you reach level 12, you’ll be facing up to a dozen criminals spread out over three cars. Their locations are marked on your radar, so you’re never at a loss for where to look.

Staying outside your car for more than a minute ends the mission, and, obviously, so does dying. Vice City’s Vigilante missions are a bit more difficult than other iterations, as a new car will spawn for the target if you don’t kill them quickly. We recommend taking along one of the more powerful weapons, such as the Colt Python or S.P.A.S. 12 shotgun, to make short work of each target.

It might be tempting to commandeer the Rhino or another bulky car, but we recommend either the VCPD Cheetah or the Hunter for Vigilante missions.

The Cheetah variant is one of Vice City’s fastest cars, and you can respray it to help reduce the police threat.

The Hunter helicopter is even better, though. The chopper is faster even than the cheetah and more useful at higher levels. Its machine gun can destroy vehicles, which lets you avoid showdowns in the street against a dozen or more criminals.

If you’re near a body of water, try forcing the enemy car into it. As with other NPCs in Vice City, entering deep water means instant death.

Finally, make sure to grab some body armor before starting Vigilante missions. You’ll need it.

Vigilante Rewards

You’ll get cash and other rewards for your trouble:

• Level 1 - $50
• Level 2 - $200
• Level 3 - $450
• Level 4 - $800
• Level 5 - $1,250
• Level 6 - $1,800
• Level 7 - $2,450
• Level 8 - $3,200
• Level 9 - $4,050
• Level 10 - $5,000
• Level 11 - $6,050
• Level 12 - $7,200
  ? Maximum armor +50% (after completing level 12)
  ? Running Rampant achievement

Clearing level 12 is also required for 100% completion of the game.