Yes, the lower requirement helps if you get cursed/weakened etc. Normally, if you have even decent strength for a dexxer, that really won't matter too much, as you shouldn't drop even close to the point of dropping your weapon. However, if you are dancing on the edge due to template constraints, it is certainly a help. The only thing with that axe is it's a tick low in ssi to suit me...ornates are fairly slow, I prefer 25-30% ssi on them, but if you have enough dexterity on your character, and you remember to hit DF occasionaly to restore it, you should be fine.