Is the XLS Armored worth buying in GTA Online?

Depending on how many firefights per minute a player typically gets into in GTA Online, which is pretty high for almost everyone, an armored car should be a priority. The tried and tested wisdom points to the player getting the Armored Kuruma, which is by far the most popular armored vehicle in the game.

The Armored Kuruma, by every standard, is one of the best purchases one can make in GTA Online. Given its decent performance and the fact that it makes the player perfectly impervious to all sorts of gunfire from enemies or other players, it is definitely worth the money the player must fork out for it.

However, it is far from being the only armored vehicle in GTA Online. Vehicles such as the Benefactor Schafter V12 and the XLS are also powerful armored beasts that can take quite a beating.

Therefore, if the player is looking to cop themselves with a beastly armored SUV, is the XLS a smart investment?

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XLS Armored in GTA Online: Worth or not?

First and foremost, why is an armored vehicle an absolute necessity in a GTA Online session? Simply put, contact missions and even heists to a certain degree incentivize speed over anything else.

An armored vehicle provides a speedy way to get the job done without stepping out of the vehicle. Perhaps more so with contact missions than heists as it is much easier to stay put in the vehicle for contact missions in GTA Online than for the latter. Therefore, the XLS might seem like a pretty sturdy option.

Pros:

• Good handling
• Good damage absorbtion
• Decent speed

While NPCs in contact missions would pose little to no threat to the XLS, enemy players can use sticky bombs to blast the car into bits.

The SUV can take about two sticky bombs before it bursts into flames and shares similar armor capabilities with that of the Schafter and the Cognoscenti.

The XLS Armored can seat up to four players (including the driver), which is identical to the Kuruma. However, the Kuruma does have a performance advantage over the XLS in terms of speed and acceleration.

Verdict

When considered in isolation, the XLS Armored is a decent purchase that offers good resistance to gunfire and mild explosives in GTA Online. However, when compared against some of the armored alternatives in the game, such as the Armored Kuruma or even the Schafter, the cracks begin to show.

The XLS is a decent vehicle but is simply outclassed by others within the same price range. If the player has $500,000 to shell out on an armored vehicle, then the XLS should be way down on the list, which will ultimately be topped by the Armored Kuruma.