GTA Online Operation Paper Trail represents a new series of Contact Missions, where you'll be employed covertly by the IAA to investigate a criminal conspiracy to rig the high price of oil. You'll be working closely with Agent ULP on this, and if they seem familiar it's because they played a large part in The Doomsday Heist, while they also featured in a series of GTA 4 missions which they reference multiple times in their dialogue. These ULP Missions are one of the biggest additions with the GTA Online The Criminal Enterprises update, so you'll want to get stuck into them as soon as possible. With that in mind, we'll show you how to start the GTA Online Operation Paper Trail missions, and give you a taste of what to expect once you're in them.
How to start the GTA Online Operation Paper Trail missions
As long as you're playing the latest version of the game, you should soon receive an in-game phone call from Agent ULP to get you started on the GTA Online Operation Paper Trail mission strand. Note that you'll need to be outside to trigger this, and if you've been travelling around for a short while without receiving anything then you should try joining another session to prompt it.
Once Agent ULP has given you an initial briefing over the phone, a marker for United Liberty Paper (the codename for IAA Headquarters) will appear in the Pillbox Hill area of central Los Santos. Head there, then enter the highlighted area for the option to start your currently active ULP Mission. It pays to bring your personal vehicle or one of the GTA Online new cars with you, so you can travel to the required locations quickly and easily find your ride between objectives.
Each GTA Online Operation Paper Trail mission can be carried out by one to four players, so it's your choice to team up with friends, search matchmaking for potential partners, or go it alone in solo. You can also accept invites from other players for any of these missions, skipping this set up stage and jumping straight into the action.
What GTA Online Operation Paper Trail missions are available
There are a total of six GTA Online Operation Paper Trail missions available, ranging from infiltrating FIB properties to rescuing agents and recovering assets. If you accept an invite from another player then you could launch into any of them, but if you're initiating the mission yourself then you'll progress through them in the following chronological order:
- ULP - Intelligence: "THIS IS A FEDERALLY CLASSIFIED BRIEF. An undisclosed government agency requires the services of private sector assets to gather intelligence concerning a conspiracy to defraud the American public. The rest of your brief is ears only. If you publish this information, the agency will deny all knowledge."
- ULP - Counterintelligence: "Agent, your next assignment is as follows. You will conduct counterintelligence operations against a competing government agency, remaining covert at all times, and eliminating resistance only where necessary. This is a highly sensitive assignment. We require full discretion and no mistakes."
- ULP - Extraction: "Agent, your next assignment is as follows. A fellow intelligence officer's cover has been compromised. You will find them and exfiltrate them. They are carrying information which is crucial to the success of this investigation."
- ULP - Asset Seizure: "Agent, your next assignment is as follows. Our suspects are relocating their principle assets. You will intercept their convoy and seize the relevant hardware. Be ready for immediate dispatch."
- ULP - Operation Paper Trail: "Agent, your next assignment is as follows. The final piece of hardware is being sold. Traffic analysis shows an upcoming deal between our key players. You will stake out the transaction, interrupt the deal, and retrieve the assets."
- ULP - Cleanup: "Agent, your final assignment is as follows. You will be granted access to a top-secret agency-controlled site, where you will obliterate all traces of the target software. Do whatever it takes to sanitize the operation. We can't allow any blowback."
Although the initial focus for some of these missions is covert operations, things have a habit of getting loud fast – so make sure you're stocked up on armor, snacks, and GTA Online new weapons such as the Precision Rifle before you get started as you won't be able to resupply while a mission is in progress. If you're planning on bringing the GTA Online Service Carbine to the fight then you'll need to wait a little longer, as it hasn't been officially released just yet.
Are there any GTA Online Operation Paper Trail rewards
Other than the usual cash and XP received for completing each mission, there don't appear to be any additional GTA Online Operation Paper Trail rewards for clearing all six of them. Through August 3, players will receive double GTA$ and RP on these missions, with GTA+ Members also getting an additional 50% GTA$ and RP bonus. If any further rewards are discovered, we'll update this guide with the information.
