Strongest Terraria weapons for each stage of the game?

Rough version, by class shifts a lot: pre-hardmode the Night's Edge for melee, Minishark or Star Cannon for ranged, and Water Bolt is a great free early magic weapon. Early hardmode, Megashark is the go-to ranged pick and the Terra Blade once you've beaten the mechs and Plantera opens up. Post-Moon Lord it's the Celestial weapons, and the Zenith is the end of the line for melee. What class are you playing? That changes the picks a lot.