Yeah, it sucks that the game doesn't have a decent manual that explains the basics. It took me a while to figure it out.

There are three types of sockets, each with three levels. Weapons have offensive sockets, armour has defensive sockets, and jewelry have support sockets. So depending on what item you put the gem in, and what level of socket they have, the gem will have different effects. So if a ring, for example, has a level 1 support socket, the gem you put in will give whatever effect is associated with a level 1 support.

awesome, thanks for the great reply...

with that being said, does it matter if i put in a "red" gem in to a "green" socket? and the sockets have different shaps as well...

i love this game so far, just needs a little after release, QOL touchups, one big one that may have helped here is tooltips or something while in menus...anyway thanks alot

no the socket colours just show what type of socket they are, ie a support socket is blue, defense green etc. it has no relation to the colour of the gem you socket in there other than defining which of the gems 9 properties you will recieve.

the shape of the socket just relates to the type of socket it is, tier 1 sockets are round, tier 2 are hexagon i think and tier 3 are diamond shaped. so a green diamond shaped socket is a tier 3 defence socket, when you look at the gem it will have 3 different stats for defence and youll get the tier 3 property in a green diamond shaped socket. the tiers 1, 2 and 3 are not necessarily how good they are, for example tier 1 attack sockets usually give damage to attacks and tier 2 give damage to spells, so ones not better than the other its just different.
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when you stick the gem in it will show beside the socket what stat you got from it and you can take the gems out using the little merchant in the lower left side of the town center, when you do this you get to keep the gem and the item, nothing is destroyed so feel free to throw a gem in, see what it does, its not gonna lock you into that decision or force you to lose the gem or the item in order to undo it.

you can also reroll the sockets at the same vendor. a chest for example will always roll the green defence sockets, a weapon always rolls the red attack sockets, but it will change them between the 3 different socket shapes and possibly the amount of sockets on slightly higher level gear that can have 2 or even 3 sockets. the only item ive come across that has multiple socket types are shields, you can roll the green defence sockets and the blue support sockets on them.

I personally thought it was easy to understand...

Armour have Defensive sockets (Green)
Weapons have Offensive sockets (Red)
Jewelery have Support Sockets (Blue)
Offhand {such as shields and Catalysts} may have any of the three...

Each Colored socket has three shapes {levels}, Circle is level 1, Hexagon is level 2, and diamond is level 3.

you match the socket color and shape to the gem of your choosing, for example...
A sword with red circular socket means = Offensive level 1 {red = offensive, circle = level 1}
Which means out of the 9 options each gem has, Offensive 1 would be the stats that gem will add to the socket.

there is a Vendor by the name of ZANAFER STARK in the main city, she has 4 tabs, the first 2 are important because:
1- Tab 1: Remove a Gem you previously socketed - easy to understand.
2- Tab 2: re-roll sockets on items - it will randomize the level of sockets on the items, sometimes may add or remove sockets, keep re-rolling until you're happy, example: Melee weapon with a red level 2 socket is useless, because normally red level 2 is for spell damage, so you may want to change it to a level 1 which is normally for physical damage or level 3 which is normally a % added to damage.
NOTE NOTE NOTE: Colors will stay the same, only the level will change EXCEPT offhand items that are capable of having multiple colors.