I'm getting close to unlocking the Lazuli race. Currently I am an Aerlen Fixer and would switch to being Lazuli Fixer.

The question is, would it be worth it to drop 1100 defense to gain 5500 hull?

My opinion is yes.

In pvp it's easy enough to lower someone's defense but you can't lower their hull. So it makes them work that much harder to disable you.

Hull is linear, defense is not. In other words 2x hull is 2x damage capability, while 2x defense is not quite 1/2 damage taken most of the time. Also, +30% def is not helping as much as +50% hull would considering there are other things like fixer and kalvarium plates and nanites that increase hull.