In many cases i sneak around or just wonder in the woods and spot an enemy that hasnt noticed me yet. Sometimes it's not even an enemy - it might be a neutral NPC.
but i can't seem to tell what enemy type he is. i want to know if my sneak attacks will kill him or not or if my arrow will damage him enough or maybe i should resort to some other tactic.

is there a way to tell what enemy i am facing before i engage him in combat?

F5 -> run up -> F9 -> profit

Just know what are the behaviors/appearance of the different enemies.... I can tell the difference between Forsworn, Bandits, Hunters, and Legion pretty easily now.

I've found this to be a problem as well. Shouldn't have to engage someone before their name and health bar show up, it's moronic.

Check for a red dot on compass as u approach.

That only works when the enemy is already aggressive towards u, not if the player havem't been spotted.

I found it very hard in the beginning and I almost put an arrow in a kind Hunter who only wanted to sell his deer meat But I sheated in the last sec and went up to him. Depends on the area u are in I guess u have to think like that. If in the middle of forest then most probably bandits if on the road prolly friendly etc.

At least in Fallout you can tell who the enemies are based on the red markings on the compass. Or at least show the name when you point your cursor at them.

i wanst just asking to know who to attack and who NOT to attack. with this i can handle.
the issue is knowing what level the enemy is. if there are a few enemies next to eachother i will arrow the ones that will go down in one shot first, but i cant tell which is which.
some i can, according to their armor, but most of the time it's a guess.

I'm guessing it is a bug, like no underwater breathing meter. Surely it isn't intended to be like that.