Dissolve or desintegration effects to go along with a sci fi theme.
I experimented with several methods to communicate a "fading out" to players.
Two of them use a clipping plane (Source does not support sphere-masks like Unreal 4 does) while the 3rd overlays a 2nd mesh, hides the parent's model and then fades out.
Part of my Sci-Fi weapons pack available on the steam workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=420970650
(dummy models are part of the default Source content)
Dissolving to ashes after being hit by multiple plasma bolts.
Transforming / dissolving a target into a digital realm.
Dissolving after being hit by a heavy energy blast (using a transformed material)