Note that level does still matter... (Destiny)

by Speedracer513 , Dallas, Texas, Tuesday, September 15, 2015, 15:41 (3156 days ago) @ slycrel

I did a patrol mission for "kill the target" at lvl 38. The target was lvl 40 and his number was orange. He could 3 shot me and I emptied 4 gjallarhorns on his cabal behind to get him down to about half health. Pretty sure the level modifiers still apply.

Also, 40 is the new 20.

It's because his light level (but not necessarily character level) was higher than yours. Notice when you die, at the top of your screen where it says what killed you, it will also now say, "Recommended Light: ___".

Your character level only matters now to gate what gear you can equip (and thus, your light level).