Now that I think about it, Zavala's still the Vanguard Commander in spite of losing his Light
Cayde and Eris Morn still fought alongside in spite of again, not having Light
Banshee 44 and Elsie Bray were able to have a long career against the Vex, in spite of again, NOT being Guardians and thus not wielding Light or even Darkness. Okay, sure they're Exos, but I'm guessing they're still mostly on a human level.
Is "Light Level" actually canon? Because I am guessing in hindsight, most of what the Ghosts actually provide are shields, ammunition, healing, resurrection and the ability to cast their abilities
Otherwise, the Guardians are mostly just guys with guns, sure a lot of said guns are ClarkeTech and have elemental/magical powers attached, but still guns
So would be surprising to others if Zavala could win an arm wrestling contest against a NIKKE with no damage
Would probably explain how come Guardians can also take on Fallen Captains, Hive Knights, Hive Ogres and Cabal who are all bigger than a human can be, in a melee. So to an extent, everybody's kinda anime in durability and physicality still.
During the Red War, they were thinking more about dying permanently rather than being unable to even give a fight to the much larger Cabal of the Red Legion