Say you turn into a left hander, your car leans to the right, the right spring compresses while the left spring extends.
The purpose of the ARB is to transfer some of the compression on the right spring to the left. In this moment the bar twists due to the way it is attached to the chassis and the suspension. The stiffer the ARB the more solidly the left and right sides are joined. With 100% stiffness the suspension would compress all together (if you hit a lump on the left wheel the right would compress the same amount).
The drop links connect the ARB to the suspension while some rubber mounts connect it to the chassis. The drop links have ball and socket joints on them to allow freedom of movement when the suspension moves. These joints eventually seize due to poor design and get "sticky", the click is them unsticking and moving. Greasing them just frees them up for a short period before whatever lubricant that was used dries up. The newer variants of the drop link have a much bigger seal round the ball and socket to keep the original lubricant in place, also the joint itself is twice as big to take more punishment. Make sure you get the latest ones from nissan not just some old used ones or you will be in the same situation when they wear in the same way.
Google Anti roll bars or "sway bars" if you want to understand it better than my brief and probably confusing explanation
So unless the drop link has come off completely there shouldn't be any real performance difference and its probably in your head. Or you drove through the puddle of excess lubricant before you left the driveway