Dont rush the game , go for iron and if you dont like long sailing trips you can it cheese putting iron on a chest in a second world , use a portal in your main world log out and go for the iron saved in your second world , go back again
As other said already , full iron make your life a TON easier in swamps and mountains , try to no skip the set , maybe weapons but iron mace will be you savior too in swamps and mountains haha