Intelligence based Martial

What would be good avenues for creating an intelligence based martial similar to the old Lore Warden?

Investigator and Mastermind are a couple of routes but I am thinking more of a dedicated martial

I like concept of a bookworm who takes up the blade out of desperation to defend their home. Strikes me as something where in Game of Thrones they would be knighted and given arms of a quill crossed with a sword

So there is the scholar background to start.
And then probably fighter with the new Combat Assessment

But how to build on this? There doesn't seem to be a lot more along this avenue in the feats list. So would an archetype (multiclass or "standard") be the next best route to go

I know there is Loremaster but it probably doesn't actually add much beyond thematic fit unless you are something like a wizard, mastermind, bard etc

So does anyone who is more familiar with some of the options have any ideas or suggestions?

I think knowledge can be a very effective weapon. If you have can make the recalls needed you can know weaknesses of many opponents. There are rogue and ranger feats that play into this that might apply as well as investigator. No need for full on int to damage

I am not looking for Int to damage as that is not a thing in 2E

I am more wondering whether what good next steps there might be for the fighter option I suggested.

Or whether rogue or ranger is the better route

I'm not sure exactly what you want here. The investigator is an intelligence based martial. To reinforce that you can have them take Armored Sentinel and other combat archetypes. If you want something LESS intelligence based, then pick a different base class like fighter and multiclass into investigator.

Ok perhaps what I was asking shifted as i was typing

I would like to try and make something like a lore warden using the initial chassis I mentioned of fighter and the new level 1 feat but I am not sure of the best route or routes to go next . Potentially the multiclass like you say

Guisarme using fighter. You can spend all you feats on archetypes like lore master as a two handed weapon using fighter and still be super effective. Start with 18 str and 16 int if you want. The guisarme is a reach trip weapon, which is what the pf1 lore warden was good at using. You could also go 14 Wis 14 int or something like that.

Any martial w/ Lore Master and a dose of Int can mirror a Lore Warden (and I suppose max Athletics for all those maneuvers they gave access to.)

So Fighter's fine, and as noted it doesn't need its feats to be competitive in combat other than a bread-n-butter standby. That leaves a lot of room for breadth feats. Another route would be MCD Rogue for bonus skills. Sneak Attack would resemble "knowing your enemy's weaknesses" and Battle Assessment fits right in.
You could even frame your PC's excellence with weapons as from education and reading your enemy/the terrain more than physical talent.

Investigator pretty much is a lorewarden. You're lightly armored, know lots of stuff, fight smart, and with Athletic Strategist, are pretty good at maneuvers.

You need Sentinel if you want to be Str-based but aside from that...yeah, Investigator really just is the way to do an Int-based martial.

Multiclassing into Investigator is also valid, because Devise A Stratagem is good mechanically, but that's more 'needs Int 14' than it is 'Int-based' in a meaningful way.

I see Investigator as a secondary martial, even if built for it, though I do appreciate being able to use Int for attacks.
I guess it's a balance if one wants a Lore Warden or a LORE wardenette.

I've been thinking about a Karnak(Marvel comics) style investigator monk hybrid thing myself.

I love the idea here and using Fighter as your "chassis" for it. As others have said you don't need to invest in Fighter feats to be effective in combat, especially with a reach weapon and the free daily fighter feat you start getting at level 8. I would look at doing multiple archetypes over your career. Lore Master is great, as is the Master of Scrolls Pathfinder Society archetype. I would be evaluating Marshal and Investigator archetypes as well.

I would also be looking at the general feats that give you bonuses to untrained skills. With so many archetypes I would strongly consider half-elf, because that free archetype dedication at level 9 is sweet, and if you like the "good at lots of skills" angle then the human ancestry feats chain for untrained improvisation is awesome, as is the chain of elf feats that let you pick a different trained skill every morning.

With that said, I would also have to consider Ancient Elf for getting the Investigator dedication at level 1.

Ranger might also be good base class for something like that, assuming you are aiming for Knowledge check focused character, Monster Hunter line has great action economy getting tacked on to Hunt Prey. You probably want Master Nature to qualify for Master Monster Hunter's boost to attacks, save, AC on normal Recall Success not just Crits... But you don't actually have to use Nature if Arcane/Occult/Society (INT) is better. Given Nature (WIS) may be outside normal Skill interests for INT character, probably would work best if you already want to take an Archetype that grants free Skill proficiency upgrades (whether toNature, INT Knowledges, or other Skills you want to boost anyways). If you go Outwit the bonus to Knowledge checks means you can eventually out-do Wizards in INT Knowledges while still handling WIS Knowledges well even without huge WIS. Precision or Flurry are pretty nice for combat benefits that scale even while spending Feats on Archetypes etc.