Cactus Sword

Worth making purely because of where you start. If the world drops you near a desert, cactus is free, unlimited and needs no smelting, so you can be holding this a couple of minutes after spawning while copper is still your only other option.

Reach is what actually matters here. The swing covers noticeably more ground than the starter metal swords, which changes how you handle slimes and zombies: you get to hit them before their hitbox touches yours instead of trading damage every time.

It went through a rough stretch after one patch gutted its speed and damage, and a later one gave most of that back, so guides written in between undersell it. Drop it the moment you can build anything from evil ore. The extra range stops covering for the damage gap quickly.