Missions & Complexes

As the topic states, is it possible to run level 5 missions solo today? I remember Tengu and Rattlesnake being able to a while back.

Must be nice being able to run level 5's in low sec not being bothered.... Flying solo.

Quite easy to very hard depending on the mission. I avoid the empire faction ones, but have done most of the pirate ones in an Ishtar - there's a couple with heavy neuting and EM damage that are problematic, but you certainly don't need a carrier or anywhere near max skills to solo them.

I'd love to try out L5s, but the thought of driving a 2 bil pimped Vargur through a lowsec gate will probably never sound appealing. Also, seeing combat probes on D-scan could be the longest 60 seconds in Bastion ever. I guess a mobile depot and full rack of wcs would help (that's how I run those pesky Burners), but what a bill if things go wrong.

passive tengu/ishtar/rattler as far as sub caps go. Anything that can tank a metric asston of dps and deal dps without cap.

Only really efficient way to do it is with carriers or multiple subcaps.

There are quite a few that can do l5s but it doesn't seem very smart to be in lowsec in one mission for a really long time. I mean when I see people running l5s in my area of low we watch list them and everything because we assume they are blingy to do them solo even if faction passive shield modules aren't that pricy.

I have commented on a similar topic to this before here and would beg to differ with you.
I have been doing lvl V missions now since last year and have yet to lose a ship to pirate players. One thing you do need is patience though because there will be times you have to sit back and wait. As for saying sticking to level IV's is better, again I have to disagree because when LP's vary between 60-90k LP's per mission even if you only do 1 a night for a week it's the equivalent to doing 60-90 a week of level IV's for the same reward.
No..it isn't easy but yes it is possible if you really want to do it.

Have you ever actually properly tried to do lvl V's? Just this evening I did 4 missions and netted 361,396 LPs. If I remember correctly that is at least 36 lvl IV missions. Just how long would it take to do 36 missions? I very much doubt you could do even half that amount in one evening let alone all of them.
In regard to looting and salvaging why is it not possible to do so?. You could actually do it as you ran the mission if you so wished. Personally I rarely bother because the isk value is pretty poor in most missions in comaparison to the LPs you are collecting and only bother with the missions that drop tags that can be sold. If my memory serves me correctly that can be between 25 mill and 60 mill a mission depending on which ones.

Like anything in EvE you can do things on your own but it will always be easier with someone else. I actually do them solo because it suits my gamestyle and real world commitments. I can make more in one evening than I used to in more than a week. Some weeks I can make several million LPs if I really really want to but admittedly I don't often do so due to always finding reasons to do other stuff.
WIth the right preparation...vigilance...and the right mind set you can do lvl Vs solo...you can do even better if more than one of you and they are way more rewarding than grinding lvl IVs. Not by just a little but by a LOT.

OP I have read this thread and others like it and I must admit i was interested in the past by this query. Since i have never run level 5 missions my input my be dismissed but please consider the following.

Level 5 missions are only given by Faction navies and those corps with the exact same LP items on offer. This of course means you will not be gaining access to many items that fetch a high LP conversion usually through 5 run BPC.

I would suggest consulting sites like fuzzworks and do some homework on the LP store offers for those corps. Then think on how you will actually convert all that LP before considering it actual isk.

My research made me think it not worthwhile. However, I would love to hear from one who has found a useful way to spend all that sub-prime navy LP in an enriching way.

Seems to me the real money from them would be in the tags if one could find a way to harvest them while keeping their ship alive. Any how, those are my thoughts.

Due to the Nuet towers in most missions you are best off with a passive set up . Rattlesnakes work well in most missions. Use an off grid booster to help and should be ok as long as you dscan like its going out of fashion.