What do I do ?

Explore caves and use bombs/grenades liberally

>Feels like it doesn't come into its own until Stardust Dragon
>literally endgame item
kys again.

Don't listen to this user OP, you don't have to worry about classes until hardmode just use what feels cool.
Summoner is viable in hardmode if you use it with non-piercing weapons.

Mine all the way down just once to say you did it, Terraria is the only game I know where you can literally dig so deep you actually wind up in Hell. Then do to find biomes like the ice caves and the pyramid

during the night, mine down a bit and travel sideways and try to find treasure chests closer to the surface
during day time try to travel across the entire surface (use dirtblocks or something to make landmarks if you turn back) or to mark spots where you want to try and dig around later on
and hoard ore as you dig around
you can go deeper when you have better equipment

>Yeal but will that actually lead me to something ?
What do you mean? Caves have structures that cointain chests, those are your primary sources for early game stuff. You'll also find things like granite and marble caves, railways and things like that among ores which you'll need to make better gear. Other tips
>Play on Softcore or Hardcore, don't bother with Tediumcore
>Explore the surface of your world, there's chests in the surface that have accessories and useful things
>If you reach the ocean and have a recall potion, dive in. There are sea chests at the bottom, loot them then take the potion before you die
>Make houses for your NPCs. You need empty houses for NPCs to move in
>Check the wiki regularly

Cheers. We've already made a big house with NPCs, made a railroad system etc. but we just kind of have a hard time figuring out what to do next, our gear is pretty bad (cactus-iron), and the wiki is overwhelming.
Also could someone explain the hardmode thing ? I get that it's once we've beaten that wall boss thingy, but does it switch automatically ?

>Summoner on a first run
Yeah, not trying to turn him off the game immediately by having him grind out a Slime Staff or rush Queen Bee to spec into a class with so little support. Maybe he should run Throwing class on his first playthough, too.
Who said anything about 'worry,' you illiterate 'tard? He's going to end up making a set of class-specific armor and naturally end up settling into a class.

Yeah, you should probably get better armor, more heart crystals and then kill the Eye of Cthulhu. If you're having trouble with it, here's some tips
>Always make an arena to fight a boss, just put some wooden platforms. This lets you jump around and maneuver to dodge attacks. Also place a campfire in it, and if you can, a heart lantern. They buff health regen by a small amount
>Put the nurse right next to your bed, if you're about to die teleport back, heal then go back to the fight
>Use buff potions (probably a waste against early bosses but if you're having trouble use them)
Also, if you don't have a grappilng hook get one ASAP. They're essential and speed up the game considerably.
>hardmode
When you kill the wall, your world enters hardmode. New mobs will spawn in certain biomes, and a huge patch of both Corruption/Crimson and Hallow (similar mechanics to corruption but different aesthetic) will infect your world. I'd advise you to look it up when you get there because there's some nuances, but the gist of it is that. There's no way to "turn off" hardmode, but don't worry too much about it. Also in the off chance you're confused, expert mode and hardmode are completely different things.

Summoner has basically fucking nothing going for it until hard mode at least. You're pretty much forced to go mixed with regular magic for most of the game.

Find one of those mirrors that allows you to warp back to your base asap.

Nice, thank you!