# Dominate San Andreas: A Complete Guide to Starting and Expanding Your Gang in GTA: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas offers a vast and immersive open world, and one of the most engaging aspects of the game is the ability to form and lead your own gang. Building a powerful crew can significantly impact your gameplay, providing backup in missions, controlling territories, and ultimately helping you dominate the streets of Los Santos. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the detailed steps of starting a gang, recruiting members, expanding your turf, and maximizing your influence in San Andreas.
## Prerequisites and Initial Steps
Before you can start recruiting gang members and claiming territories, you need to progress far enough in the main storyline. Specifically, you must complete the mission **”Sweet & Kendl.”** This mission is pivotal as it reintroduces you to Grove Street Families and sets the stage for your gang-related activities. After completing this mission, the fundamental mechanics of gang warfare become available.
* **Completing “Sweet & Kendl”:** Ensure you’ve finished this mission. It’s a crucial prerequisite. Without completing this mission, the features discussed below will be unavailable.
* **Locate Grove Street:** Familiarize yourself with Grove Street, your home turf. This will be your central hub for gang activities.
* **Understand Gang Warfare Mechanics:** Take some time to understand the basics of gang warfare. This includes recruitment, territory control, and defense.
## Recruiting Gang Members
Once “Sweet & Kendl” is complete, you can start recruiting members for the Grove Street Families. Here’s how:
1. **Locate Potential Recruits:** Look for green-clad Grove Street gang members walking around your territory. These gang members are generally found near Grove Street and surrounding areas.
2. **Approach the Recruit:** Get close to a potential recruit.
3. **Recruitment Requirements:**
* **Respect:** You need to have sufficient respect to recruit gang members. Respect is earned by completing missions, eliminating rival gang members, and generally behaving like a tough character in Los Santos. If your respect is too low, the option to recruit won’t appear.
* **Weapon:** To recruit someone, you must wield a weapon. However, overly powerful weapons like rocket launchers or miniguns will not work. Pistols, SMGs, and assault rifles are ideal. Ensure the weapon is equipped before approaching the potential recruit.
4. **Initiate Recruitment:** Aim your weapon at the potential recruit. This will trigger the option to recruit him (usually a button prompt like ‘G’ on PC or the D-Pad on consoles).
5. **Recruitment Limit:** You can recruit a maximum of seven gang members at a time. This limit can be increased later on (discussed below).
6. **Dismissing Gang Members:** If you want to dismiss a gang member, simply aim your weapon at him and use the ‘Negative’ action (usually the same button used for crouching or ducking – ‘Ctrl’ on PC). This will cause the gang member to leave your group.
**Tips for Finding Recruits:**
* **Grove Street Area:** Focus your search around Grove Street and its immediate vicinity. Gang members are more likely to spawn in this area.
* **Time of Day:** Gang members are more active during the daytime. You might find fewer potential recruits at night.
* **Attire:** Make sure you are wearing Grove Street colors (green). This will make you less likely to be attacked by your own gang members and make recruitment feel more natural.
## Increasing Gang Member Capacity
Initially, you’re limited to recruiting a maximum of seven gang members. You can increase this limit by improving your character’s **”Charisma”** stat, which is directly tied to CJ’s appearance, specifically his sex appeal. This isn’t explicitly named as ‘Charisma’ in the game’s stats, but it determines how many gang members you can recruit.
Here’s how to improve your “Charisma”:
1. **Clothing:** Purchase clothes from stores like Binco, ProLaps, and Victim. Certain clothing combinations increase your sex appeal. Experiment with different outfits to find what works best. Generally, more expensive and stylish clothes will have a greater impact.
2. **Haircuts:** Visit barber shops and get stylish haircuts. Similar to clothing, certain haircuts increase your sex appeal. Try different styles to see which ones give you the best boost.
3. **Tattoos:** Get tattoos from tattoo parlors. Tattoos can significantly increase your sex appeal. Choose designs that you find appealing and that fit your character’s style.
4. **Weight:** Maintain a moderate weight. Being too fat or too skinny can negatively impact your sex appeal. Visit gyms to work out or eat regularly to maintain a healthy weight.
5. **Driving an Attractive Vehicle:** Driving a sports car or other appealing vehicle boosts sex appeal when in view of NPCs.
By improving these aspects of CJ’s appearance, you can gradually increase the maximum number of gang members you can recruit. Aim for a maximum of twelve to achieve optimal gang control.
## Giving Orders and Controlling Your Gang
Once you’ve recruited gang members, you can give them basic orders. Here’s how:
* **Following:** By default, recruited gang members will follow you. They will automatically engage enemies and provide support in combat.
* **Staying Put:** To tell your gang members to stay put, use the ‘Negative’ action (usually ‘Ctrl’ on PC) while targeting them with your weapon. This will make them hold their position until you tell them to follow you again.
* **Attacking Specific Targets:** You can’t directly order your gang members to attack a specific target. However, they will automatically attack enemies that you engage. Therefore, you can indirectly control their targets by focusing your own attacks.
**Strategic Use of Gang Members:**
* **Backup in Missions:** Use your gang members as backup during missions. They can provide valuable firepower and distract enemies, making missions easier.
* **Protection:** Use your gang members to protect you from rival gangs or law enforcement. They can act as bodyguards, deterring attackers and providing cover.
* **Transportation:** Use your gang members to fill up vehicles. This allows for quicker transportation and more firepower when traveling through dangerous areas.
## Claiming Territories and Gang Warfare
Claiming territories is a crucial aspect of gang warfare in San Andreas. It allows you to expand your influence, generate income, and control key areas of Los Santos. Here’s how to claim territories:
1. **Identify Rival Gang Territories:** Rival gang territories are marked on the map with specific colors: Ballas territories are purple, and Vagos territories are yellow. These territories are often concentrated in specific areas of the city.
2. **Incite a Gang War:** To start a gang war, you need to enter a rival gang territory and provoke the gang members. The easiest way to do this is to attack them. Shoot at them, run them over, or throw a grenade. Anything that causes them to retaliate will trigger a gang war.
3. **Survive the Waves:** Once you provoke the rival gang, three waves of enemies will attack you. You must survive these waves to claim the territory. The difficulty of these waves depends on the size and strength of the rival gang in that territory.
4. **Call for Backup:** Before starting a gang war, recruit as many gang members as possible. Having a large group of allies will significantly increase your chances of survival.
5. **Use Cover:** Use cover effectively during the gang war. Hide behind cars, buildings, or other objects to avoid being shot. Peek out to fire at enemies and then quickly retreat to cover.
6. **Prioritize Targets:** Focus on eliminating the most dangerous enemies first. Those wielding heavier weapons (like shotguns or SMGs) pose the greatest threat.
7. **Heal Yourself:** Keep an eye on your health and use health pickups to heal yourself when necessary. You can find health pickups scattered around the city.
8. **Complete the Waves:** After surviving all three waves, the territory will be claimed by the Grove Street Families, and its color will change to green on the map. You will also receive a respect bonus.
**Tips for Winning Gang Wars:**
* **Choose Your Battles:** Start by claiming smaller and weaker territories before moving on to larger and more heavily defended ones. This will allow you to build up your strength and experience.
* **Strategic Positioning:** Position yourself strategically to maximize your firepower and minimize your exposure to enemy fire. Try to find a location with good cover and a clear view of the battlefield.
* **Weapon Choice:** Choose the right weapon for the job. Assault rifles and SMGs are effective at medium range, while shotguns are devastating at close range. Consider using grenades to flush out enemies from cover.
* **Armor:** Wear body armor to increase your resistance to damage. You can purchase body armor from Ammu-Nation.
* **Vehicle Assistance:** Use vehicles strategically during gang wars. Driving a car into the middle of a fight can provide cover and allow you to quickly move between positions.
* **Recruit High-Stat Members:** Gang member stats like shooting skills improve with your own. Spend time at the shooting range, which will increase the efficiency of your recruits.
## Defending Your Territories
Once you’ve claimed territories, you need to defend them from rival gang attacks. Rival gangs will periodically attempt to reclaim territories that you control. Here’s how to defend your territories:
1. **Territory Under Attack:** When a territory is under attack, you will receive a notification on the screen, and the territory will flash red on the map.
2. **Respond Quickly:** Respond to the attack as quickly as possible. The longer you wait, the more damage the rival gang will do to your territory.
3. **Eliminate the Attackers:** Eliminate all the rival gang members in the territory to defend it. The number of attackers will vary depending on the size and strength of the territory.
4. **Call for Backup:** Call for backup from your gang members. The more allies you have, the easier it will be to defend the territory.
5. **Use the Same Tactics:** Use the same tactics that you used to claim the territory in the first place. Use cover effectively, prioritize targets, and heal yourself when necessary.
**Tips for Defending Territories:**
* **Strategic Placement of Gang Members:** Position gang members strategically around your territories to provide early warning of attacks and to increase your defensive firepower.
* **Regular Patrols:** Conduct regular patrols of your territories to deter rival gangs from attacking. This will also allow you to identify and eliminate any potential threats before they can become a problem.
* **Upgrade Your Weapons:** Upgrade your weapons to increase your firepower. Visit Ammu-Nation to purchase more powerful weapons and attachments.
* **Strengthen Your Defenses:** Strengthen your defenses by placing obstacles and barriers around your territories. This will make it more difficult for rival gangs to attack.
## Benefits of Controlling Territories
Controlling territories provides several benefits:
* **Income:** Each territory that you control generates income. The more territories you control, the more income you will receive. This income is deposited into your bank account regularly.
* **Respect:** Claiming and defending territories increases your respect. Respect is essential for recruiting gang members and progressing through the storyline.
* **Influence:** Controlling territories increases your influence in Los Santos. The more influence you have, the more respect you will command and the more opportunities will become available to you.
* **Reduced Gang Presence:** Controlling territories reduces the presence of rival gangs in those areas. This makes it safer to travel through those areas and reduces the likelihood of being attacked.
* **Recruitment Areas:** Controlling territories creates safe havens for recruiting new gang members. The more territories you control, the easier it will be to find recruits.
## Advanced Gang Management Strategies
Once you’ve established a solid base of territories, you can implement more advanced strategies to further enhance your gang’s power and influence:
* **Target Key Territories:** Focus on claiming key territories that provide strategic advantages. These might be territories that control important resources, access points, or transportation hubs.
* **Create Buffer Zones:** Create buffer zones between your territories and those of rival gangs. This will reduce the likelihood of attacks and give you more time to prepare if an attack does occur.
* **Form Alliances:** Consider forming alliances with other gangs. This can provide you with additional manpower and resources, making it easier to claim and defend territories. However, be aware that alliances can be fragile and may break down at any time.
* **Eliminate Rival Gang Leaders:** Target the leaders of rival gangs to weaken their organization. This can make it easier to claim their territories and disrupt their operations.
* **Invest in Infrastructure:** Invest in infrastructure improvements in your territories. This can increase income, improve defenses, and attract new recruits.
* **Vehicle Customization:** Use a vehicle customization shop to trick out your gang car. Matching color schemes and adding the hydraulics modification are examples.
## Gang Wars Troubleshooting
Gang wars can sometimes be glitchy or unpredictable. Here are some common issues and how to troubleshoot them:
* **Gang War Not Triggering:** If you’re having trouble triggering a gang war, make sure you’re in a rival gang territory and that you’re provoking the gang members sufficiently. Try using a more powerful weapon or causing more destruction.
* **Enemies Not Spawning:** If enemies are not spawning during a gang war, try restarting the game or loading a previous save. This can sometimes resolve issues with game scripts.
* **Territory Not Changing Color:** If a territory is not changing color after you’ve won a gang war, try leaving the area and returning. This can sometimes force the game to update the territory status.
* **Constant Attacks:** If you’re constantly being attacked by rival gangs, try claiming more territories. The more territories you control, the less likely rival gangs are to attack.
* **Respect Issues:** If your respect is too low to recruit gang members, try completing more missions or eliminating more rival gang members.
## Exploiting Gang Warfare for Fun and Profit
While the main purpose of gang warfare is to expand your influence and generate income, it can also be a fun and profitable activity in its own right. Here are some ways to exploit gang warfare for your own amusement:
* **Challenge Runs:** Try completing the game using only gang warfare. This will require you to be highly strategic and resourceful.
* **Custom Scenarios:** Create custom gang warfare scenarios by using mods or trainers. This will allow you to tailor the difficulty and challenge to your own preferences.
* **Multiplayer Gang Wars:** Play gang warfare with friends in multiplayer mode. This can be a highly competitive and rewarding experience.
* **Exploiting Game Mechanics:** Experiment with different game mechanics to find ways to exploit them during gang wars. For example, you can use vehicles to quickly move between positions or to provide cover for your gang members.
## Conclusion
Starting and expanding your gang in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a rewarding and engaging experience. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can build a powerful crew, control vast territories, and dominate the streets of Los Santos. Remember to be strategic, resourceful, and adaptable, and you will be well on your way to becoming the most powerful gang leader in San Andreas. Now get out there and claim what’s yours! Don’t forget to experiment with different strategies and tactics to find what works best for you. Good luck, and have fun building your empire!
## Additional Tips and Tricks
* **Using Cheats:** While using cheats can make the game easier, they can also disable certain features and prevent you from earning achievements. Use cheats sparingly and only when necessary.
* **Saving Regularly:** Save your game regularly to avoid losing progress. Gang wars can be unpredictable, and you never know when you might get killed.
* **Exploring the World:** Take some time to explore the world of San Andreas. There are many hidden secrets and surprises to be discovered.
* **Having Fun:** Remember to have fun! Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a game designed to be enjoyed. Don’t take it too seriously and don’t be afraid to experiment.
* **Pay Attention to Details:** Pay attention to the details of the game. The developers put a lot of effort into creating a realistic and immersive world. By paying attention to the details, you can enhance your gameplay experience.
* **Use the Map Wisely:** The map is your best friend. Use it to locate rival gang territories, plan your attacks, and find health pickups and other resources.
* **Listen to the Radio:** The radio stations in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are excellent. Listen to them while you’re driving or walking around the city. They can provide entertainment and information about the game world.
* **Experiment with Vehicles:** Experiment with different vehicles to find the ones that you like best. Each vehicle has its own unique handling characteristics.
* **Customize Your Character:** Customize your character to reflect your personality and style. This will make you feel more connected to the game world.
* **Complete Side Missions:** Complete side missions to earn extra money and respect. Side missions can also provide you with valuable skills and abilities.
* **Interact with NPCs:** Interact with NPCs to learn more about the game world. Some NPCs will provide you with information or quests.
* **Be Aware of Your Surroundings:** Be aware of your surroundings at all times. The world of San Andreas is dangerous, and you never know when you might be attacked.
* **Learn from Your Mistakes:** Learn from your mistakes. If you die or fail a mission, analyze what went wrong and try to do better next time.
* **Don’t Give Up:** Don’t give up! Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas can be challenging, but it is also very rewarding. If you stick with it, you will eventually be able to conquer the game.
This comprehensive guide should provide you with everything you need to know to start and expand your gang in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Good luck, and have fun ruling the streets!