Confused about Dmg type

Super dumb noobie question: I wanted to play a 1h gun+ shield character, so went for demo+oath, 33lvls in and I'm already struggling with bosses and elites on normal, dealing pathetic dmg and being super easy to die.

I don't have a specific build in mind because I have 0 knowledge about the gears, currently I've got stuff mainly for +element or fire dmg, devotion points mainly towards blue and yellow, attributes mostly given to spirit, main dmg skills are fire strike, grenado, and retaliation(?). So for a character like this, how should I distribute attributes? Which devotion route should I actually take? Or for a ranged weapon is it actually the most optimal to focus on physical and just let the elemental dmg kinda tag along? I'm super lost right now plz help!