Applying dynamic damage to skeletal mesh

I’m looking for some easy steps to take to apply a damage effect to NPC’s. I’ve looked at some possible solutions online but they all seem rather expensive, especially in my case since I have multiple enemies coming at the player at once and I’m developing for VR.

I’m trying to accomplish a damage effect that isn’t as costly as the Ryan Bruck’s method. I looked into Tom Looman’s method as well but since each hit will cause major increase in shader complexity after a few hits it is quite the overkill.
Decals obviously float on the skeletal mesh so it’s a no-go as well.

Has anyone found a simpler solution to rendering damage?