Out of 12 gem types i've found, only ONE is useful to ranged...

Itemization still needs work.... I have come across, so far, a dozen or more things that qualify as a "gem." The Mystic Bolt-Action rifle, for one example, takes a gem as part of its components.

But only one gem - Amber - has anything remotely resembling a useful stat for ranged - 4% crit - and it ain't great. There is no gem i've found so far that adds ranged directly; and no higher tier gem adds more crit than Amber.

I think the overall solution, for this and all similar itemization issues that lead to people having to just stack the same thing N times when crafting, is to start from the end result desired, because so far whatever's been used hasn't created enough diversity or upgrade paths in the existing mats.

That said, the new system of crafting clothing has gone a ways towards alleviating this with clothing, since now you DO want to mix more stats together than before. But for tools themselves, like firearms.. there is no case where "30 health" or "5 stamina" or "2.75 resist" is a good idea on your rifle over something that adds, you know. Ranged damage. Lol.

TL;DR please look at all the categories of items and make a pass over greater diversity that covers the full ranged of "health, stamina, resists, ranged damage, melee damage, crit, misc utility" and move towards having all items fully representing all categories.... so i'm not stuck using lousy Amber in every gun i make because any other material is a net loss.