Bee Greaves

Everything here is built from wax that only Queen Bee provides, so the set is gated behind killing her, and that is roughly where summoning stops being a novelty before Hardmode. The extra minion slots matter more than the damage percentage does. Each additional minion is another source of damage that keeps working while you are busy running away, which is the whole appeal of the class.

Beenades drop from the same fight and can be dunked in Shimmer to break them back down into Bee Wax. That is usually quicker than setting up a second hive and killing her again.

Six at once is the ceiling before Hardmode. Reaching it takes the full set, a Pygmy Necklace in an accessory slot, a Summoning Potion, and a stop at a Bewitching Table on your way out the door. The table is the easy one to forget, since you have to use it before the fight starts and it does not follow you into the arena.

It will carry a summoner through the rest of pre-Hardmode comfortably. Once the world turns, the sets that follow pull ahead fast, so there is no reason to stockpile spare wax for later.