Firstly, a character can be well geared at any level above 10 without getting stuff from heroes. It may well be that they pk'd someone who looted stuff from heroes.

Generally though, people that sit at a level do so because their skillset or gear gives them an advantage at they level that will reduce if they continue to rank up.

If you are new, you shouldn't worry about tactics to become powerful. Rather, you should worry about learning to navigate areas in the mud because mobility and area knowledge are huge in pk. At the very least, they will keep you alive. If you don't die, you'll accumulate gear.

Once you get the hang of how not to die, you can start trying to take the offensive. Again, area knowledge is huge because you will be able to initiate combat with far less warning for your target (ideally none). You'll be able to run fast enough to cut them off if they try to escape on foot.

Also, keeping a clear head is pretty important in pk. If your typing becomes poor when pk'ing because of adrenaline, you are likely to die to the guy that is completely calm.

So to sum up:
- learn the areas, before trying to build a powerful character. Otherwise no matter how many 100%s you have, you'll die and lose whatever gear you have.