Autofire in SW Saga is between area effect and target effect rules-wise. And it is kinda meh. As a 6th level sith (jedi levels actually), I concentrated for a few mins until I could raise a max effect energy resistance (resist 20) and then spent a supplemental every round to maintain it indefinitely. Suddenly, most weapons that could autofire did not look that threatening.
D20 isn't exactly well known for balanced character builds. From what I remember Jedi in the original D20 Star Wars game (having never played Saga edition) where pretty tasty to begin with.