maybe i should enter stealth from outside detection range first

Bethesda has the worst difficulty settings. If they're going to make it a lazy enemy stat multiplier, they should copy what Metro did with Ranger Mode and make both sides deadlier and more fragile, while lowering ammo drops/increasing ammo prices. Combat becomes harder but way more satisfying, instead of Bethesda's method where every enemy becomes a damage sponge and hard mode turns into a miserable slog.

There's something intensely satisfying about charging into a dungeon at a dead run while brutally hacking apart anything in your way. Of course, that only really works once you're overpowered, but it is fun.