Aumir suggested a debuf based on status effects... kind of like a poison, but for statuses. http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/100989

So I thought of this as a better way of going about it.

Muddle = Wave/Gel Based Status
If you have a negative status resistance, you get inflicted with that level of it as if you were hit by a +0 of that status; you now have negative max resists.
If you have a positive amount of that status between none and max (+4), you now have exactly negative max of that status.
If you have more than max (+4) then you receive one negative max (-4) to your total status resistance.

T1/2: In T2, the effect of this is halved, and in T1 the effect is again halved, to match status resistances there. So in T2, you'd only receive negative med if you were at med or lower, and otherwise (if you were at higher than +2) you'd receive

Time duration: (w/ no resistance)
5 seconds low
25 seconds moderate
50 seconds strong

Resisting the status: For each point of resistance, you will receive 5% less duration. Other benefits are as follows:

(At.. you will get)
-2 or lower: Double the effects listed above
+7: One less level of infliction; i.e. high instead of max for the breaking point
+14: Two less levels of infliction

Rationale:
If you're using a small amount of resistance, it shouldn't do much and should just be made negligible. But if you have a lot of resistance, it should really start to count for something. Doing so would help to fix the broken status system (which includes those game breaking UVs while not destroying them).

If I have chaos + volcanic demo helm, then in order for me to break even and end up with positive resistances after taking on muddle, I'll have to have +4 or higher total; this means a UV total of high on the armor pieces. I'd also have to have at least low muddle resistance somewhere if chaos is to have a negative med of muddle too.