Spheres are a dime a dozen, tons rot on posky raids. I would say 1-2k max. Jade reaver is pretty steady at 4-5k iirc.

Should I wait until I can afford everything in one go then? Sounds like about 25k in total to mq Swiftwind.

At your level (48), the faster damage bonus application from a simple Jade Mace (9/18) makes it competitive with Winter's Fury. Weapons like Exquisite Velium Warsword (12/21) and Crafted Velium Warsword (10/18) are superior to Winter's Fury and within your stated budget. They are even superior to Earthcaller in terms of damage output, the reason to get Earthcaller is to proc slow (and look cool doing it). Venemous Axe of the Velium Brood doesn't even come close to any of these, it is only good at low levels when you don't have the damage bonus and the proc damage is relatively large compared to mob health.

I’m always looking for stats on weapons, strength, hp, etc. I factor that in with the ratio and try to find a good middle ground.

I should also mention I’m about to start a new Druid as well, and that’s likely to take up most of my play time.

I DEFINITELY plan to start the Druid epic early though, as I hear it’s one of the easiest to complete and a Druid has it easy with all the porting around.

Eldwin has been farming frenzy 24/7 for literally 6 years

That's how.

Does this mean Frostbringer with its 12/22 and 60 -ac proc is a bad weapon too? I hope not, I invested 1800pp into it intending to pair it with Winters Fury.

Frostbringer is a good weapon if you want to tank. If you don't want to pull aggro, it is problematic.

I rarely group as a Ranger, mostly solo. But when I do group I’m usually asked to tank.

Well, you shouldn't. Stats are gravy, focus on the damage output of the weapons.