No,lockpicking is not a must. You can find armor and charms,rings etc.that will give you that ability.[I,like lockpicking.]Concerning the abbey I think you need to find levers.The 2nd one is very hard to see.Its lost in the shadows on the wall.[Bottom to the right?]As to your last ? there are trainers available to do that.Check posts by Raze,Kiya or DQueen they have links to them.Hope this was helpful and accurate.
