Hello and thanks for the welcome.
No, I have not used Art Manager but I can give it a go. I was under the impression I could simply use notepad to edit the .dbr files (which is possible -- if it works, however, is another question).
I did in fact read the "how to create a difficulty mod" topic; in fact, that's how I found this place.
Unfortunately, the author didn't really say what one should do with the edited files. I was hoping I could simply drop them in the database folder but that appears to be misguided. I then assumed I had to pack them up somehow but, again, did not know how. The monstergamebalanceattributes.dbr... where specifically can I find variables for health and damage of monsters, and where might I find one for bosses?
I guess my main overall question is, do I package up my edited files via the Art Manager and drop the .arz package into the database folder?