Trident

As a spear it is fine for its point in the game: it pokes in a straight line, reaches through a one tile gap, and handles worms and slow chargers without you needing to get close. What makes it worth a hotbar slot is the movement effect. Hold it while you are in water or lava and you swim properly instead of wallowing, jump higher out of the surface, and can slow your descent by holding up.

That turns the ocean from an obstacle into a place you can work in, which matters because the ocean is where you find the thing in the first place. Diving for the chests down there, or clearing a flooded cave, goes much faster with it out. Honey and Shimmer ignore the effect entirely, so do not count on it in the Hive.

• Swinging it underwater throws off light, which is a genuine help in the dark bottom half of an ocean shaft.
• Melee speed gear stretches its reach a little as well as its swing rate, since the head travels further before it retracts.