On master, player damage dealt is one half and player damage taken is doubled, so it will seem like the bear has twice the health as on adept and hits twice as hard, but the slider won't affect the damage your flame atronach does with it's fireballs because it does not affect enemy health directly. The difficulty multiplier is only applied to the damage done by and to the player.

At level 30, a snow bear will have 550 health but on master it will seem like 1,100. But not to your flame atronach. To your flame atronach it will be. 550 health bear no matter where the slider is.

On master, player damage dealt is one half and player damage taken is doubled, so it will seem like the bear has twice the health as on adept and hits twice as hard, but the slider won't affect the damage your flame atronach does with it's fireballs because it does not affect enemy health directly. The difficulty multiplier is only applied to the damage done by and to the player.

At level 30, a snow bear will have 550 health but on master it will seem like 1,100. But not to your flame atronach. To your flame atronach it will be a 550 health bear no matter where the slider is. The slider does not actually increase enemy health, it just decreases the amount of damage the player does.

So the damage numbers for the PC's spells and weapons are quite inaccurate. Somehow, half or more of the points get deflected/dissipated etc. It seems like success at the harder settings is really just an exercise in hiring out the work.
Thanks for you help, this was ... enlightening.

I'm getting butchered on Expert, so I don't even dare to try Legendary.