Master mode question

[Horse Gaming]

What's the first ideal weapon to go for after entering hard mode?

[Revenio]

I don't have some meta, definitive answer...

But, there's a lot of great options. I like the ranger class, so I like the Onyx Blaster. You just need a shotgun (purchased from arms dealer after wall of flesh is defeated), a couple dark shards (from hardmode mummies in the desert), and some souls of night.

(I think you used to be able to get Frost Armor fairly early, but now it's made from Titanium or Adamantite). Regardless, I like to mine straight to Titanium/Adamantite because there's nothing stopping you from doing that. You'll get the repeater for that ore tier as well.

If you had one of those phaseblades from pre-hardmode, you can quickly upgrade to a phasesaber in hardmode. It's a higher damage melee weapon to get you started with minimal effort to obtain. Another great melee option is the Ice Sickle, but it could take some grinding since it's a low % drop chance from some hardmode snow biome enemies.

The shadowflame knife is also pretty fun, it comes from the hardmode goblin army. (So, another thing you can do fairly early in hardmode.) I believe it drops from the summoners, and it's a pretty high chance. I like this one when combined with the Frost Armor for the debuff stacking. Can also stack with the cursed flames and on fire debuffs.

Probably one of the absolute best weapons in the game, especially when paired with holy arrows (mostly for the massive projectile spam), and especially one of the best weapons for early and mid hardmode... Is the Daedalus Stormbow. You just need 15 souls of light at a workbench to craft a Key of Light, which you put into an empty chest and it turns into a hallowed mimic. There's a 25% chance it'll drop from each hallowed mimic. This means you can get it very early in hardmode, and it'll beat the first 3 bosses easily.

For other classes, I don't know as much about their weapons. Those dark shards can also get the Dao of Pow, a hardmode flail.

[toastyman]

onyx blaster, really useful

[Gammaboy45]

might not be obtainable early on depending on your world, but I personally think the Dao of Pow is hella' underrated. Not as useful for bosses (it's a flail, so you be the judge of that), but it can do some pretty good damage against common enemies.

[Azure ☾ ⋆]

Melee - Shadowflame Knife, Chain Guillotines
Ranged - Onyx Blaster, Shadowflame Bow, CAR, Uzi, Dart Pistol/Rifle
Mage - Crystal Storm, Golden Shower (A must have), Spirit Flame, Orange Zapinator
Summoner - Blade/Sanguine Staves
Edit: Forgot to mention glorious dart weapons

[TaterTot]

Check the Wiki page. Class Set up page will show you.