I think this was covered by josh on one of the earlier modules but cant find where he mentioned it,
On a scale of 1 to 10 how firm should i be plucking. I find the lighter i pluck the better it sounds, less buzz and rattles etc 
its difficult to quantify pressure on a forum but i would say im plucking at about a 3.5 on the firmness scale to avoid the “noise” 
So to compensate Im turning the volume up a few notches. Is this good practice or am i hindering my progress and technique for the future ?
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Some people really enjoy digging in and you should certainly be comfortable with varying the strength to vary your output. But I did read somewhere early on (possibly Josh) saying it was better to turn the volume up and play light. Easier to vary the strength at that level and, as you say, control buzzing etc.
So I’m with you. Play light and use the volume controls!
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Accordingly.
This may be defined as, Case by case.
What sounds and tones are required or called for each song, and in general the artists style.
I play a lot of Rush which is vastly pure attack, Geddy said, ‘I never play soft’,
Yet playing Steely Dan I’ll be far gentler, its case by case.
The answer is found somewhere within your first million or so plucks.
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It’s song dependant. Some songs, I feel compelled to really dig in - say something punky, that I’m electing not to play with a pick. For other songs, a lighter touch is needed, say for a ballad.
Equally, you might want to play with plucking firmness, and so the tone, through a song - think the light and shade that you hear in some songs that have a soft verse and then an all out, head bangin’ chorus.
Of course, if you use heavy compression - which I sometimes do - then the lightness of touch, or heaviness, becomes irrelevant 
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How’s your setup? Neck relief (how straight or bowed)? What’s the string height at the 12th fret?
Your action may be a bit too low. You may be slapping strings down more than pulling across.
I probably play pretty light. Like usually a 3-4, but I frequently jump up to 5-6 for loud parts, and probably start getting controlled buzz around a 7. And I play with low or medium-low action. (Main bass is set between 1.75 - 2.00mm.)
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