this is my build (for lvl 9):
Isenhart's full helm and breast plate
146 defense
magic damage reduced by 2
damage reduced by 2
+6 dexterity
+8% all resistances
+10 strength
Death's War Swords, Gloves, Sash
10-25 base damage
24 defense
12% life stolen per hit
+25-75 cold damage
+40% bonus to attack rating
+40% all resistances
+10 minimum damage
cannot be frozen
poison length reduced by 75%
+50% poison resist
+30% increased attack speed
Nagelrings rings
+100-150 attack rating
magic damage reduced by 6
attacker takes damage of 6
Hotspur boots
10 defense
+45% fire resistance
+15% maximum fire resistance
+3-6 fire damage
+15 life
Magic or Rare amulet
you want an amulet with life, AR, and anything else you can get your hands on. Bronze amulet of the Fox (+AR and life) is a great way to go.
Magic or Rare jewels
if you dont want to get grushed and do all of the lam esens quests for +15 stats, and don't have many charms handy, put jewels of Freedom in your Deaths swords because of their extraordinarily high requirements for lvl 9. Otherwise you want ALL max damage jewels, the godliest jewel for level 9 I think is +9 max +12% enhanced but im not 100% sure. If you cant find or afford these, use jewels that add life or AR.
Charms
if you do all the lam esens quests you can use the deaths swords without any charms, at the EXTREME cost of Vit. For a level 9 build I gather as much str in charms as humanly possible, preferrably +4 gc's accompanied by +1 sc's, any mix of str and dex helps (dont go over 45 dex though, no need) this way you can have plenty of str and dex from 4 columns of your inv (+10 str +10 dex) and you won't have to use too many str points. Then you can go crazy on Vit.
Aside from str and dex charms you want Fine gc's with any mod and life sc's. These are optional, I pwn without them, but they help a lot.
resists should end up 48/90/48/75. You pwn fire sorces and idiots with poison jewels/charms.
Skills
8 skill points +12 skill points from quests = 20 skill points
+1 howl
+1 shout
+8 sword mastery
+9 Bash
+1 Double Swing
use Double swing in battle, if you are allowed then load up on mana pots and keep using 'em. If not then switch to sword and shield when you run out of mana. You'll need a third Deaths sword on weapon switch, and for a shield I use Pelta Lunata for the vit.
Strategies
The strategy is almost the same for everyone so I'll just address a few out-of-the-ordinaries.
sigons barbs, sigons pallies, and defiance pallies: these guys have tons of defense, usually around 1k at level 9, so they will be really, REALLY tough to hit. Also, whenever you do connect, the sigons set will hit you hard with I think 20 thorns damage. The key to these barbs is to attack FAST and with AS MUCH ATTACK RATING AS POSSIBLE. equip all of your AR charms if you have them, any item you have which increases AR is now necessary. More often than not the sigons barbs will use bash/stun(if they are high enough level) which is exceedingly annoying, the key is to get the first hit which will freeze them, and pray your AR is high enough that you can keep connecting hits fast enough that they can't stunlock you. AR is the key to these battles.
non-melee zons, necros, and sorces: these guys can dish out a lot of damage and their basic strategy is to run away. You need to practice and get good at cutting them off, leading them when they run, so you can connect a hit. Just one hit is all it takes, one connecting hit, they are frozen and you can easily catch up to them and connect the next few hits, upon which they will die because they're weak. Just make sure you dodge their powerful attacks and rush in for the first hit as fast as you can.
charge pallies: forget it. You'll always lose against these cheap pieces of sh**. Just don't duel them. They know if they fight you melee they'll get an ass whoopin'. The only way to handle a charge pally is get as much life as possible and try to run his mana out (but at that time he'll just run into town like a little bi***, ive never seen a charge pally stay and fight after they run out of mana cos THEY KNOW THEYRE DEAD).
Kick asns: Forget this too. Unless the kick asn is level 9-11 you're going to lose. Once they hit level 12 and load themselves up with +max dmg jewels and use rare greaves for insane kick damage you're dead. They can hit almost 2k AR and over 1k damage charged at level 12. They always hit, and they hit hard. I don't think I've ever won against a kick asn who knew what she was doing. The only chance in hell you have is try to up your defense as much as possible so she can't charge. Good luck.
Everything else, just pretty much run up, use double swing and try to hit them as many times as possible. They should go down fairly fast. If anyone figures out to have 75 cold resist, your damage will be lowered considerably, but usually having that kind of resists has drawbacks so they'll probably go down easily anyway.
this build pwns great level 9's all the way up to horrible level 40's. (yes I killed some level 40 necro nub and he thought I was hacking rofl) enjoy and let me know how it works for you if you try it.