I just confirmed it's possible to dodge PPC/ERPPC shots at the instant of firing in a Cent-D, fully elited. For those interested, the math work follows:
Just for my own curiosity, I crunched the numbers on how big of a change in position a Centurion could make with a STD/XL 275 engine, in 0.466 seconds (the time it takes for PPC/ERPPC to travel 700 meters), to get any idea of how feasible it is to dodge.
I've earlier done this kind of math with Light mechs, but I realized a few problems:
1.) I did not use actual figures for accel/deceleration for Light mechs.
2.) I did not account for the possibility of turning. In hindsight this was a major.... oversight.
Here are the relevant facts:
1.) Centurion-D with STD/XL 275 has a turn rate of 63.06 degrees/sec. Fully-elited, that becomes 75.672 deg/sec.
2.) Deceleration is 24.75 meters/sec. Fully-elited, that becomes 37.125 deg/sec.
3.) Torso yaw speed is 150 degrees/sec. Fully-elited, that becomes 210 degrees/sec.
4.) Top speed is 98 kph with speed tweak.
In 0.466 seconds, a Cent-D can have turned 35.263 degrees. If you run in a straight line, you travel 27.222 meters. If you make a turn, with some simple trig, you can find that (cos(35.263) * 27.222 meters), which is the distance along the adjacent side of the triangle. It means you move laterally 22.227 meters instead of 27.222 meters. A difference of 4.995 meters in your lateral positioning.
If you apply braking as well: d = (a * t^2) / 2
Your speed will change by 17.3 meters/sec, and the difference in positioning is 4.03 meters.
Combine these two and the difference in positioning is 9.025 meters. The Centurion is 14 meters tall. If we guess that it is 6 meters wide from a side-profile, that means a shot well-aimed to strike his center of mass has a margin of error of +/- 3 meters. Since you can shift by fully 9 meters, you can completely dodge a shot by turning at speed and slamming your brakes.
Basically, this confirms that it is possible to outright completely dodge a PPC/ERPPC shot at 700 meters in a fully-elited Centurion-D, if you make your move at the exact moment the weapons are fired. You can't do it on-reflex, since that adds 150 to 200 milliseconds to your reaction time, reducing the amount that you move.
But a pilot who anticipates his opponent's shot can potentially dodge it entirely. And if you don't dodge it completely, you can tank the hit on your arm. Also remember the shooter's reflexes are involved as well, he might well decide to pull the trigger at a certain moment, but you already started dodging even before he pulls the trigger, which means you started to move even before the shot is in the air, giving rise to the possibility that you can dodge even a perfectly-aimed shot because you started to dodge a split second before the shot was fired.
Do I think I am good enough to dodge like that? Hell no. I'm willing to bet most pilots in this game aren't that good. But this shows that it is possible. So for those who find Murzao's claims doubtful, there is at least this proof that it can be done.
That being said, I still would like to see Murzao in action, so we can see for ourselves. Seeing is believing.