Hey,
I know that status resist trinkets are actually a stupid waste of tokens because they don't actually do anything (http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/10522 , also, from own experience and others' testing)
but do the x defense trinkets (ex: elemental defense, piercing defense) trinkets have any effect?
I can't be bothered to buy/try any of them since now I'd rather use tokens for something that actually has working use (like materials) now, but it's really just a piece of curiosity.
Personally, I think it is a bug that you sometimes can't catch fire at all. (or what ever status your trying to keep away)
In my own experience, the anti-status trinkets help prevent catching the status.
For example: in t3, I would be wearing my three star anti-shock trinket, and could get hit by a shock puppy and not actually get shocked. I also seemed to take less damage from the shock spasms, and less damage from anything that could deal shock.
I haven't tried any of the base damage type trinkets yet(like shadow or pierce), but I'm saving up for a good shadow trinket.