The Dullahan
Riding on a horse as black as night, the headless hunter known as the dullahan tracks down and takes the heads of those they deem unfit to continue living. When closing in for the kill, the dullahan first whispers their victim's name, then swiftly collects their prize, casting a pall of dread upon all who witness the grim execution.
A dullahan manifests when a particularly violent warrior is beheaded and the warrior's soul stubbornly clings to material existence (or is refused entry to the afterlife). Most dullahans return to their former homelands, where they can exact vengeance on those they feel wronged them in life (or their living descendants). A dullahan's concept of justice is swift and merciless, and once they've selected a target, they're unwavering in their cause.
Perhaps even more than revenge, a dullahan desires their own rotted head. An individual who wields the head of a dullahan is powerful indeed, for a dullahan will grudgingly serve such a master in the hopes of reclaiming their missing skull. Mighty fiends such as devils command dullahans to harvest souls or lead armies for them, while a mortal might use such an undead warrior to fulfill a personal vendetta. A dullahan won't hesitate to kill their liege and reclaim their head when the opportunity presents itself.
-Dullahan, Pathfinder 2e Monster Core, published March 2024
The Dullahan is a build that requires quite a bit of things established beforehand. You'll want to pick several non-essential NPCs who were involved in your Dullahan's death, and your Dullahan will stop at nothing to kill them. You will also want to pick some sort of helmet or headgear to embody the Dullahan's rotting head that they have to reclaim; Dragon Priest Masks work great for this. You'll also want to get vampirism fast, which can be done in Movarth's Lair or Shriekwind Basin, because the Dullahan is an unholy undead and that is the closest we can get to that in Skyrim.
The Dullahan is a build leaning heavily into Heavy Armor, One-Handed, and Conjuration, and supplements it with Illusion, Speech, and Sneak. The standing stone of choice is none other than the Warrior Stone, almost exclusively. I don't have a particular race picked out for this build, and frankly you can play whatever because it ultimately doesn't matter. There is comedy to be found in a tiny male Bosmer Dullahan though. The Divines' angriest short king.
First thing's first: the Dullahan is dressed in all black. This means that our end goal is Ebony or Daedric as the overall set, alongside the Dragon Priest Mask you've picked out. Even in casual clothing (if you're the type of player to do that, of course) you'll want to stick with black robes or mourner's clothes.
The Dullahan bears a sword and an axe, both of which are enchanted just by the Dullahan grabbing them. In addition to Ebony-quality enchanted swords and war axes, the Woodcutter's Axe or the already-enchanted Poacher's Axe is a funny early option.
The Dullahan is depicted as riding on an all-black horse and accompanied by all-black dogs. Conjure Familiar is an applicable early-game Conjuration spell since it summons a ghost dog, and you can add the two Death Hounds from the Volkihar Clan side of the Dawnguard DLC to your hunting pack if you join them.
As for an all-black horse, you can buy one at the Whiterun Stables for 1000 gold, or you can buy a wild horse map if you have the Wild Horses Creation for 250 gold and then tame the wild black horse northwest of Falkreath by letting it knock you off while rearing a few times. For later on, you'll want to grab Arvak's skull from the Soul Cairn if going through the Dawnguard DLC's main quest (but frankly, why wouldn't you? Dullahan is a vampire character, and Vampire Lord is fun even though it's not as flavorful, and trying to join the Dawnguard will just make them tell you to go get cured, which doesn't fit here) or get Shadowmere from the Dark Brotherhood questline.
As established, Conjuration is used for both conjuring a familiar and summoning Arvak, and Bound Sword can be a good addition to both level the skill quickly and as an alternative to enchanted swords if you can't find or make a good one for yourself.
For Illusion, the only magical effect of note here is Fear and its spells; the Dullahan is a terrifying being who strikes fear into others as it rides in. This is also why Speech - and notably intimidation - are used.
For reasons unknown to me, the Dullahan also has a really good stealth stat, so...add Sneak to your skills. I'd leave it unperked, personally.
"Jasper why do you always find undead or otherworldly entities the most interesting to make builds off of?" Shhhh we're not looking into my psyche today.
Anyway, the Pathfinder version of the Dullahan is cool as fuck and absolutely appealed to me while flipping through the Monster Core book and reading a significant chunk of it when I lost power a few days ago. What can I say, I love an undead revenge story.
(Divider by @saradika-graphics)
Here's a picture of a Dullahan courtesy of the Archives of Nephthys website for Pathfinder 2e!
