Drax

Both are built from the same bars at the same point in a run and both reach the same ore tier, so the decision is about feel rather than progression. This one digs quicker out of the box, but it reaches a tile less far and, importantly, it ignores mining speed bonuses completely. That last part usually decides it. If you intend to strip-mine with a Mining Potion running and mining gear on, the Pickaxe Axe overtakes it and keeps pulling away. For casual digging with no buffs up, this is the faster tool.

Every drill trades range for speed, and range is what lets you carve from a safe position. A tile you cannot quite touch means climbing down to it, and climbing down underground means meeting whatever is waiting there. It matters most around lava and around ceilings you are trying to open carefully. Over a long tunnel the repositioning eats back a good share of the speed advantage, so it is worth swinging both for a few minutes before you commit the bars.

It is the gate to Chlorophyte Ore, which is the entire next tier of gear, so somebody in the world needs one of the two tools. It also does axe work, so a single slot replaces both your pickaxe and your axe and frees space for the trip. It does not hammer, though, so you are still carrying a hammer for slopes, half blocks and background walls.

Drills swing continuously while held, which makes this a passable thing to have in hand while tunneling rather than something you switch to. Godly and Demonic come out equal on average and are the picks if you plan to actually hit anything with it.

Drill and axe, jammed together. It originally shipped as the Hamdrax and did hammer work as well, which stopped being possible once hammers were given the job of sloping blocks, since the game could not tell which of the two you meant. The Drill Containment Unit and the mount it summons are the only things that still cover all three jobs at once.