Resist Fear & Resist Acid - what were these for?

So I wonder, has anyone played the older CotW releases and knows what was the purpose of these two spells? A changelog states "Resist Fear and Resist Acid have been removed, as they aren't useful in the current game"

Other than that, the help file stated this much:

Resist Fear
Spell level: 3
Base mana: 3
Time to Cast: 5 seconds

The resist fear spell increases the character's resistance to a fear attack.

Resist Acid
Spell level: 3
Base mana: 3
Time to Cast: 5 seconds

The resist acid spells increases the character's resistance to an acid-based attack, reducing the damage by half. Its effects are cumulative, co casting two Resist Acid spells cuts the damage from an acid-spray trap to 1/4 its normal value. Note that while Resist Acid will decrease the damage the player takes, it doesn't protect the player's equipment!

So, from Resist Acid description it looks like it protected against the pool of acid trap, I guess against the slime too. Were there some other acid based attacks then? Gelatinous Glob perhaps? Also, what is this about not protecting the player's equipment? Were there some gear condition mechanics, or was it only planned?

Resist Fear is even more enigmatic. My only guess would be that this was Drain Life resistance, but could be an entirely different thing.