Gold Shortsword

Shortswords jab straight out instead of arcing overhead, and they point wherever you aim, including up at something hovering or down through a platform. Range is tiny and the hitbox only exists for an instant, so landing a hit means standing right on top of the thing you are hitting.

That works against slow ground enemies you can step away from between stabs. It falls apart in a boss fight, where you cannot hold contact long enough to matter. If you have the ore for this, the broadsword of the same tier is the safer weapon for almost all of pre-Hardmode.