Newbie: 3018 user adjusted my laser with laser GRBL but it won't engrave with Lightburn

What was your speed set to? I can very nearly guarantee that you’re asking the machine to go significantly faster than its firmware is set to allow, so it’s scaling down the power because it can’t match the requested speed. Read the 2nd half of this post where it discusses this: Configuring a 3018 CNC for use with LightBurn