As a test player and current player, I started out without purchasing items.
Without purchasing items, I was only able to stay within top 30.
I started to purchase items about two weeks ago and it becomes quite a habit that I constantly spending my steem to get new items to stay above.
I guess once the top players develop a habit of buying, it can be really hard to stop especially the competition is really high within top 10.
Epic items are hard to get at the item store or quest so the best alternative for many would be to buy them.
The truth is the regular spending of steem may not enable us to earn steem but getting the fun of the game as top players.
With some simple calculation, one can easily see himself spending more than he earns during the game but the fun of being the top is really tempting.
This is really game psychology so a player who wants to stay above would naturally buy new items at the market.
The desire to stay above is higher than earning steem.
The fact that Holybread is a game so having fun should be the main focus.
Arena Zone
When I wake up from my slumber, I went down quite a number of levels.
I check my fight history but there was only one player, 
I figure that those above me had lost fights resulting my rank going down a few levels.
I guess most of us would have noticed that each time a player wins a match, the player takes over the rank that the player attacks and the defending player will go down by 1 rank.
I was at rank 12 yesterday when I posted. I managed to climb back up to rank 11 after winning two fights against 
Below is my recent fight history.
Character Status
My character status had an increase from 50 to 51.
Damage Increase: From 3195 to 3204
HP Increase: From 36108 to 36920
Crit Chance: Remain at 19%
Dexterity Increase: From 351 to 352
Constitution Increase: From 354 to 355
Luck Increase: From 274 to 278
Intelligence Increase: From 119 to 120
Strength: Remain at 120