Pickaxes

Pickaxes are tools used to remove ("mine") blocks and furniture, normally converting them to item form. Note that removing blocks includes both ores and placed wood blocks. However, they cannot remove background walls (this requires a hammer instead), nor cut down trees (which requires an axe or chainsaw). They also double as basic melee weapons. Some of the Hardmode-tier pickaxes have drill counterparts, which as of 1.4 will mine faster than their pickaxe counterparts. New players spawn with a Copper Pickaxe, unless in Journey mode where new players spawn with an Iron Pickaxe instead.

When evaluating the practical efficiency of a pickaxe, consider two things: the amount of hits required (from high pickaxe power); as well as the ticks per hit from low mining speed – see the respective pages for more details. Ignore the use time attribute, which reflects the weapon swing/animation and is not related to the hits for mining.

(Prior to 1.4) Pickaxes can use modifiers that increase speed, like Quick and Light. Accessories with a melee speed bonus will only affect the weapon swing, and will not affect mining hits (by affecting use speed not mining speed).

Types
Currently, there are different pickaxes,  of which are Hardmode-exclusive.