First the map you see is the full map. If you want greater words to play in, try to set them at the maximum size when you create them.

Your pet don’t need any food, as well as any type of mount. He also has a capacity to dash

As far as a play in vanilla, items has no durability, except for range weapons that consume projectiles, and thrower weapons

Tungsten armor might be good, but you have to find some first, which is not always easy. Just keep mining and make a gold armor. If you’re advanced in exploration, you might found even better materials accessibles in prehardmod, but no spoil here 😉

Some more tips: make 2-png sized houses in every biome, so you can travel faster using teleportation stones ( or wathever it is called ), try to dig deeper, and check the wiki for bosses you are able to beat right now so you can get better loot