Hey :)
I havnt trying to drink before entering in an area because it take so mutch time and this is really hard to compare since you have to make like 10 run without drinking and as many while you are drunk to have interesting value, this is why i was coming here to check if some ppl can help me saving time, maybe someone have already try this kind of thing ?
About the little sparkling effect, do you get it with a character who dont have lucky charm ?
Also i think you are right about the lucky charm proc, i noticed that i have more gold and item in the first city on my run with lucky charm regardless to the proc indication. Its happen only when you got gear this is right but you still get more gold and maybe crafting item too
Well im not going to put to many time for this, i think it is not worth for only one person and i will just check this post to see if some ppl can give personnal feedback or coming back if i notice something important ;)