Federal Reserve
Iceman (APD Corporal)
Introduction
The Federal Reserve is one of the most challenging events to complete on the server, second to the Blackwater Armory. The event brutally tests the ability of a group to conquer an assortment of hurdles.
The difficulty of the events begins with the mandatory response of the Altis Police Department, which is because of the robbery's classification as a federal event. Just like the other two federal events, Blackwater and Jail APD officers will likely join the server with the intent to counter the robbery. These officers usually include a few senior officers, who have access to a larger arsenal than the average police officer.
Once the alarm sounds, the APD will respond to the event in waves, per the rules of the APD handbook1. While the bomb on the vault door counts down, the waves normally grow in size and increase in vehicle strength. Once the bomb on the vault door explodes, it is likely that armed APD Ghosthawks will appear in a final attempt to stop the civilians from reaching any of the gold traders. If the civilians reach the gold trader, they can access the NPC there and sell the reserve's gold bars to the NPC.
The official statistics for this event are located HERE.
Starting The Robbery
You will need bolt-cutters and a blasting charge to start a Federal Reserve robbery. You can buy a blasting charge and bolt-cutters from a Rebel Outpost or Black Market. To plant to blasting charge, locate the large white dome with the vault inside (circled in the first picture below). Walk up to the the large door of the dome, open your inventory by pressing "y", click the blasting charge, and press "use". The blasting charge can only be planted if 5 cops are online. The charge will count down for 20 minutes before it explodes.
If you wish to hack the anti-air system at the reserve, you'll also need to buy a hacking terminal. When the anti-air is operating normally, civilians will receive an anti-air warning when the enter the big ring; then, the civilians will be shot out of the sky by a heat-seeking missile if they enter the small center circle. Normally, the APD can enter the anti-air without being shot. If the anti-air is hacked, these roles reverse.
A bird's-eye view of the reserve; the vault dome is circled.
Inside the vault dome.
The anti-air device that can be disabled with a hacking terminal.
Telos, the town bordering the reserve, known for third-parties.
Selling Gold Bars
If players defend the vault bomb from being defused by the APD, the bomb will explode the vault door and a number of gold bars will spawn inside.
The players will need to load the gold bars into a large truck since each gold bar uses six units of inventory space. It's not normally feasible for the civilians to use exclusively backpacks for extracting the gold from the reserve. Also take note that gold bars cannot be stored inside the virtual inventory space of an aerial vehicle. Gold bars can be stored inside of houses, which would allow the players to sell the gold at a later date instead of directly after the robbery.
Gold bars can only be sold at gold traders. The locations of the three gold traders are circled in red on the map below.
The three gold trader locations are circled on this map.
The northern gold trader; widely considered the most dependable gold trader.
The western gold trader; it's most likely the least used gold trader.
The eastern gold trader; the most mediocre gold trader.
Possible Rewards
The minimum amount of gold bars that will ever spawn in the Federal Reserve vault is 200. With gold bars being valued at $69,063 each, the minimum payout for a completed Federal Reserve robbery is $13,812,600. If there are more cops online during the Federal Reserve robbery, the minimum amount of bars that can spawn is increased.
- If there are 15 or more cops online, the minimum amount of bars is 225.
- If there are 20 or more cops online, the minimum amount of bars is 250.
The maximum amount of gold bars that can spawn inside a Federal Reserve vault is 400.
Simply put, if you complete a Federal Reserve robbery, the amount of bars you'll receive is partly decided by pure chance. Your chances of receiving a larger payout increase with the number of cops that are online the server during the robbery.
1. Mr GOAT, APD Master Handbook, Chapter 11 - Federal Events