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First of all, I love the concept of the Inventor! And I want to play it so bad as a goblin with a large Mech Construct or a Dwarf with a big Axe. But unfortunally its another MAD class. You basically need INT and STR at max, CON, DEX, WIS at least decent and only CHA could be seen as "dump stat". And the worst is that you only really can take Human or Ork to build it like that. I never understood the concept of fixed ability boost and flaws. Thats so hindering in having fun at building divers characters! At least you could have build in a optinal rule that you can choose ability boosts/flaws by yourself. And you could change Attack and Damage boosts by the classes key ability or at least make a feat thats make you change it in that way. I saw someones build at level 5 with 16 INT and 18 STR! That tells me that there is a major design flaw on the class. When the key ability is not worth on having it at 18 on level 5 but another stat is, then you made a big mistake!
Ok enough blame, how to fix it? I tried finess builds and stuff like this and giving the player the option between DEX and STR as Weapon Damage Modifier would be a solid option, but I have a better idea.
Grant the Invention a INT modifier. The Weapon Invention gets a INT to attack and damage modifier. The Armor Invention gets a INT restriction instead of STR and maybe reduced -feet based on the INT modifier. The construct just gets general stats influenced by INT. And that would shift the Inventor from a MAD class to a really awesome class with a lot ancestry options!
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Overdrive is by design how the inventor gets +INT on damage. I doubt the would let you double-dip on that +INT bonus.
Now, I'll confess, the idea of being able to use your inventor's INT to fulfill a Heavy Armor Innovation's STR requirement isn't a bad idea, but I hadn't looked that deeply into the Armor innovation in the playtest. It didn't have as much depth of options so wasn't as inspiring out of the box as the weapon or companion options. I know someone else had asked for the ability to base the armor off of other versions of armor. If something like that was done, certainly having the INT be able to stand in for that seems like a reasonable idea. Gives a certain flavor to it. However, in most cases inventors are going to have at least 16 INT, and probably higher, at least at higher levels, so in effect it is close to simply granting them an ability that removes the Armor Check Penalty.
It might also make there be no reason not to go heavy armor invention, which might reduce diversity in the realm. So I don't know if I like it or not, after thinking about it that way Certainly an interesting idea though.
As to the ancestries, they have static boosts so the ancestries have a 'certain affinity' towards certain builds, but they very specifically insured they all included a free boost to insure that even ones with a weakness can allow any ancestry to reasonably pursue paths that might generally rely on the stat that is their traditional weakness.
If it is really important for you to further boost things, you can use the optional rule to trade two flaws for an extra boost someplace, if you really want.
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You're right about overdrive that its INT based but its still a skill check and for the sake of the example of an Human/Orc with 18 INT and STR at lvl 5 it would make zero difference in to hit or +damage. It would only make the class more divers and no MAD class anymore. I would always see a little flexibility in how to build you class more valuable instead of a class that you have to build in a certain way.
I'd argue, that at least with the Construct Innovation, you don't rely as much on Strength.
Sure, for the Weapon or Armor Innovations, those are more important.
But it's possible to start with a 16 Strength, 16 Intelligence as a Goblin. (A basic stat-line I worked up is 16 Str, 12 Dex, 12 Con, 16 Int, 10 Wis, 12 Cha. I worked that up in 12 seconds, so it still might not be optimal, but it's a usable character.)
It's pretty good for Weapon Innovation, and considering that the Dex Cap for the Armor Innovation is +1, that 12 Dex is technically all you need for the Armor Innovation.
For a Dwarf, you could have 2 points more in Con, and have a 8 Charisma. Still quite usable. You could also move two points from Strength to Intelligence with the Ancestry Boosts and have a 14 Strength, 18 Intelligence.