Well, there's a difference between a Cabdru and a Ravon/Niheriva. To become a Cabdru requires knowledge I have no desire to try to get. To become like a Hunsobo, likewise, requires groups to do Hell trips and such, also have no desire (or probably ability) to coordinate.
It all depends. If going like 70 - 5 or 100-20 is ok then its something you can easily do without hell gear & uber preps. If you want to go like 500 and 10 then you'll probably need some sort of hell/silent tower gear or something like that.
The last PK char that made it past level 30 I took credit for was Rastorenn, over 2 years ago. I still play - just not in the same way I used to play.
That being said you can be competitive against those chars with far less than that. You just have to be sneaky.